Effect of postoperative irradiation on free skin flaps: an experimental study in rats

The modern treatment of musculoskeletal malignant tumours often requires different combinations of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Although combination treatments have allowed reconstruction of more complex defects, the risk of complications also rises. In clinical series the complication rate is influenced by the characteristics of the defect and the quality of the radiation used. The flap survival is high, but the overall complication rate is more than 25%. In this study we looked at the healing of microvascular free skin flaps exposed to postoperative irradiation in a rat model. Epigastric microvascular free skin flap were exposed to a single dose of 20 Gy radiation one week postoperatively (n = 8). A comparison was made with free epigastric skin flaps without postoperative radiation (n = 8). The healing was assessed histologically at four weeks and by measuring the tensile strength of the wound. Biochemical total nitrogen and hydroxyproline contents were also measured. Results showed that histologically the interfaces healed similarly with only minimal histomorphological changes. Neither the mechanical strength of the healing interface nor the biochemical markers altered significantly. Postoperative irradiation with a single dose of 20 Gy does not affect the survival of free skin flaps in rats. In the future the model described could be used to study the effects of combination therapy of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy more closely to find the optimal control of malignancies with limited damage to treated tissue.