Comparative Evaluation of the efficacy of Laser Therapy and Fibroblastic Growth Factor Injection on Mucosal Wound Healing in Rat Experimental Model

Introduction: The aim of present study was to compare the effects of laser and bFGF treatment on operative wound healing in a rat model. Methods: 66 male Wistar rats were employed in this study. 10millimeter surgical wound was created on buccal mucosa of each rat ,under anesthesia, and then the rats were divided into 3 groups of 22 each: 1- GF group (received subcutaneous injection of bFGF), 2- laser group (treated with low level laser irradiation) and 3- control group (received no treatment). On day 5 half of rats in each group and on day 10 the other half, were sacrificed. Then, samples were taken from rats' buccal mucosa for histological assay and scoring. The data was analyzed with Mann-Whitney test (α=5%). Results: On day5 there was not any significant difference between GF and control group; however laser group showed delayed wound coverage clinically, compared to other groups(p<0.05). On day 10, histological examination demonstrated marked vascular granulation tissue in GF group. Collagen production was significantly prominent in laser group compared to GF treated samples (p=.004). Inflammation of granulation tissue in GF and laser groups was significantly less than that in control samples (p=.005 and .001, respectively).  Conclusion: The components of wound matrix induced by GF and laser treatment were significantly different. Although bFGF or laser treatment of oral wounds, under conditions of present study, did not accelerated wound healing but showed some other notable effects on the quality of healing.