Topical application of sodium hyaluronate for preventing perivascular adhesion of the vein grafts in rabbits: An experimental study

Objective To explore the effect of topical application of sodium hyaluronate on preventing perivascular adhesion of the vein grafts in rabbits. Methods Thirty-six male New Zealand white rabbits, aged 5 months, were randomly and equally divided into 2 groups: groups A and B. Arterial defect model was established by cutting about 1cm artery from the middle part of the dissected left common carotid artery. A section about 3cm was cut from the right external jugular vein, and the harvested vein was inverted and anastomosed end-to-end to the artery defect. After the anastomosis, the adventitia and two anastomoses of the grafted veins in group A were coated locally with 0.2ml sodium hyaluronate. The grafted veins were obtained 1, 2 and 4 weeks after the operation, with the perivascular adhesion of the vein grafts being examined macroscopically before the resection. HE staining and Masson staining were preformed for histological changes of grafted vein wall and the perivascular adhesion of the vein grafts. At 2, 4 weeks postoperation, the perivascular adhesions of the vein grafts were graded by the grading criteria of adhesion in macroscopic evaluation and histological evaluation. Results At 1, 2 and 4 weeks postoperatively, the macroscopic and histological observation found that the perivascular adhesions in group A were looser than those in group B. The macroscopic grade and histological grade were lower in group A than in group B, there was a significant difference between the two groups at 2 and 4 weeks postoperation (P<0.05). Conclusion Topical application of sodium hyaluronate can reduce the perivascular adhesion and is an ideal treatment strategy for preventing perivascular adhesion of vein grafts. DOI: 10.11855/j.issn.0577-7402.2017.08.14