The Effect of Hemostatic Agents and Tissue Adhesive on Injured Peripheral Nerve Healing in Rats - Part I. Electrophysiological Study

Abstract

Background. In the practice of maxillofacial surgery, bleeding and nerve injury have common problems. In the control of bleeding, hemostatic agents and tissue adhesives have been frequently used. The effect of these hemostatic agents and tissue adhesives on the injured neural tissues has not been known. Objectives. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of hemostatic agents and tissue adhesive on injured nerve tissues. Material and Methods. Forty-two rats randomly divided into seven groups: Control, Oxidized Regenerated Cellulose (ORC), Gelatine Sponge (GS), Bovine Collagen (BC), Ankaferd BloodStopper (ABS), Glutaraldehyde Surgical Adhesive (BioGlue (R)) and N-butil-2 cyanoacrylate (Glubran (R) 2). The left sciatic nerves were crushed and surrounded by hemostatic agents and tissue adhesives. At the end of 12 weeks, the surgical site was reopened and electrophysiological recordings were performed. Results. In the ORC, GS, and BC groups, the compound action potential (CAP) values were lower compared to the control group (p < 0.05). Although the values of CAP in the ABS group were higher than in the control group while CAP values in the BioGlue and Glubran (R) 2 groups were lower than the control group, there was no statistical significance between the experimental and control groups (p > 0.05). In the ORC, BC, GS, and Glubran (R) 2 groups, the nerve conduction velocities (NCV) values were lower than in the control group (p < 0.05). In the ABS and BioGlue groups, NCV values were lower compared to the control group but no significant differences were found (p > 0.05). Conclusions. The present study provides evidence that ABS is the most suitable hemostatic agent due to its favorable effect on the healing of injured neural tissues. BioGlue is also a suitable surgical agent with no adverse effects.