The Influence of Diabetes Mellitus on Survival of Abdominal Perforator Flaps: An Experimental Study in Rats with Slowly Induced Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract Background Lower limb ulcers are a major source of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Surgical coverage of these wounds is fraught with a high complication rate. Although clinically perforator flaps lead to good results in diabetic patients, there is little experimental data to support this finding. Methods A total of 60 Wistar rats were randomly assigned either to the diabetic ( n = 30) or control ( n = 30) group. Diabetes was induced by streptozotocin injection at 50 mg/kg body weight and was confirmed by blood glucose levels > 180 mg/dL preoperatively. In all rats, a cranial epigastric artery perforator flap was raised. At postoperative day 7, all flaps were raised, photographed by digital planimetry, and analyzed histologically. Results Mean glycemic levels preoperatively were 207.8 ± 16 in the diabetic group and 82.8 ± 5.1 in the control group ( p