Effect of local corticosteroids on early inflammatory function in surgical wound of rats

To investigate the effects of local corticosteroids during the early inflammatory process in iatrogenically induced surgical wounds, three different types of corticosteroids, dexamethasone sodium phosphate (Decadron), betamethasone sodium phosphate (Celestone Phosphate), and betamethasone sodium phosphate-acetate (Celestone Soluspan), were evaluated using rats. Single doses of corticosteroid were administered locally to male Sprague-Dawley rats after the surgical implantation of a wound chamber, which was used to collect fluid from the surrounding surgical wound. Wound fluids were drawn from the wound chamber at postoperative days 1, 3, and 5 and analyzed for total white blood cells (WBCs) and differential count. In this study, the authors have demonstrated that the corticosteroids (dexamethasone sodium phosphate, betamethasone sodium phosphate, betamethasone sodium phosphate-acetate) cause at least 50% reduction in the total circulating WBCs at the surgical wound site on postoperative day 1, followed by decreased reductions on days 3 and 5.