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. 1996 Oct;224(4):583–590. doi: 10.1097/00000658-199610000-00016

Improved outcome of surgical flaps treated with topical dimethylsulfoxide.

L Rand-Luby 1, R F Pommier 1, S T Williams 1, E A Woltering 1, K A Small 1, W S Fletcher 1
PMCID: PMC1235428  PMID: 8857862

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) on skin flap viability. BACKGROUND: Dimethylsulfoxide has been shown to decrease necrosis of random skin flaps in the rat model, but no human studies have been performed. The authors performed a randomized, prospective study on the effect of DMSO on skin flap viability in patients undergoing mastectomy and inguinal lymphadenectomy. METHODS: Twenty-four patients had topical 60% DMSO applied to their flaps every 4 hours x 10 days after operation and 27 patients had operation alone. The maximum area of flap ischemia was traced by a masked observer and measured by cut and weigh technique. Significance of differences between the treatment and control group was determined by Student's test. RESULTS: The mean area of ischemia for the DMSO group was 16.33 U versus 44.93 U for the control group. This difference was statistically significant (p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The authors conclude that topical application of DMSO reduces skin flap ischemia in humans and recommend its use after operation in which skin flaps are created.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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