Effects of Inhaled Fluticasone Propionate on Wound Healing After Surgical Phonotrauma Model in Rabbit Larynx

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of inhaled fluticasone propionate on wound healing after phonosurgical trauma of larynx in rabbit model.

A randomized controlled study on experimental animals (rabbits).

In this prospective experimental animal study, surgically induced type 2 scar was created under general anesthesia in 52 vocal folds of 26 rabbits. Inhaled fluticasone propionate was administered to 13 rabbits in the treatment group for 5 days after the trauma. Rabbits were sacrificed on the 10th, 30th, and 90th days. Histopathological examinations were performed to evaluate epithelization process, inflammation density, and collagen density at the wound side and the results compared between the groups.

On the 10th day after surgical trauma, re-epithelialization was completed in both the treatment and the control groups. There was no difference between the groups in terms of mononuclear cell density on the 10th and 90th days (P > 0.05), but the inflammatory cell density was found to be lower in the treatment group on the 30th day (P = 0.005). Collagen density was significantly lower in all animals treated with inhaled fluticasone propionate, and sacrificed on the 10th, 30th, and 90th days, compared to the control group (P = 0.010, P = 0.038, and P < 0.001, respectively).

Inhaled fluticasone propionate to be applied after phonotrauma reduces inflammation and collagen density in scar tissue in rabbits. Future clinical studies will be promising for the positive effects of inhaled steroids on voice quality after phonosurgery.