COMPARISON EFFECT OF MICRONEEDLING WITH A ROLLER DEVICE WITH MCFARLANE METHOD ON THE VIABILITY OF RANDOM SKIN FLAPS IN RATS

Background: In pattern skin flap, distal flap necrosis happens as a result of insufficient blood reserve. Micro needling with a roller device is a new treatment. In this study, the we search micro needling to increase flap viability. Methods: 30 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two groups of 15. The study group was exposed to McFarlane flap elevation and repositioning. The microneedling procedure was performed four times: 3 days before, on the day of, and on the third and sixth days after surgery. The control group was only exposed to surgery. The skin flap necrosis area was measured on the seventh postoperative day topographically by digital imaging and scintigraphy. After determination of necrosis area, the amount of neovascularization and number of vascular structures within the papillary dermal layer were counted Results: The mean percentages of necrosis in the flap area as determined by the Digimizer analysis program were 37.51 ± 5.08 in the control group and 29.42 ± 7.37 in the study group. The comparison of flap necrosis percentages showed that the study group is equal to study group. Vessel counts in the study group also do not showed significantly with control group (p> 0.05). Conclusions: The authors' study showed that the microneedling method applied directly on the flap could modality flap viability but we suggested microneedling method apply 1 week before operation. Keyword: Microneedling - roller device--flap viability-RAT