PAIRING FASCIOTOMY AND SILICONE SPACER INSERTION WITH A RAT MODEL OF COMPARTMENT SYNDROME

Skeletal muscle injuries are a serious cause of disability in the military and civilian populations. Compartment syndrome (CS) is a secondary injury, proceeding any primary injury that results in swelling and edema within the muscle fascicle compartment, which leads to occlusion of the tissue vasculature and, if left untreated, tissue necrosis and potential loss of limb. The current standard of care for CS is surgical fasciotomy which involves an incision through the muscle fascia to relieve compartmental pressure. This may save the limb, but often results in scarring and reduced muscle function. Our gr oup previously developed a ra t model of CS for exploring the pathophysiology of the condition and for testing potential treatment methods. W e sought to improve upon this rat model by better matching it to the clinical condition. CS was induced on the hindlimb of adult male Lewis rats , followed by fasciotomy surgery (n=10) . A number of rats had a silicone spacer inserted at the fasciotomy site and left in for either 3 (n=24) or 6 (n=12) days. Functional and histological data from these groups were analyzed. No changes were found in functional data from the fasciotomy or silicone spacer groups at 7 or 14 days post injury . We found significant i ncreases in fibrosis in the silicone spacer groups over the previous model of CS. Rats with the silicone spacer left in for 3 days developed a maximal amount of fibrosis 7 days post injury. Additionally, fewer rats had measurable function on day 7 with t he silicone spacer insertion for 3 days compared to other groups. S ilicone spacer insertion in the rat model of CS leads to an increase in fibrosis, which better matches the clinical condition.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Poteracki, James Michael

• Compartment Syndrome

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/90711

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/90711