Studies on Wound Healing in Axial Pattern Flaps of the Diabetic Rat

With increasing life expectancy, the number of diabetic patients requiring surgery increases. Micro- and macroangiopathic lesions are responsible for infections and prolonged wound healing periods. Therefore we decided to do a standardized experimental study on wound healing in pedicled skin flaps in streptozocin treated diabetic Wistar rats. Streptozocin specifically destroys the β-cells of the pancreas (Gerritsen and Dulin 1967; Junod et al. 1967; Tomita et al. 1986). The severity of the experimentally produced diabetes corresponds strictly to the dose of streptozocin administered (Junod et al. 1969; Tancrede et al. 1983; Ehrenfeld et al. 1988).