Evaluation of chitosan membrane impregnated or not with silver nanoparticles in helping the healing of surgical wounds in horses

• Grant number: 15/10269-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: July 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Renata Gebara Sampaio Dória
• Grantee: Vinicius Marques Rollim
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Colic in horses is a visceral abdominal pain manifestation, which frequently needs an immediate surgical intervention. The median laparotomy is the main surgical access that exposes a greater amount of organs, facilitating surgical maneuvers. The major complications due to a colic surgery are incisional infections and incisional hernias. The incisional infections slow the surgical wound healing process increasing the animal convalescence period and can result in incisonal hernias, which occurrence is related with a delayed healing period and tissue weakening due to endogenous contamination, infection and inflammation at the wound site. In addition, the vast majority of horses with acute abdomen are endotoxemic animals, condition in which delays the surgical wound healing process favoring the occurrence of incisional infections and incisional hernias. This study aims to evaluate the behavior of chitosan membrane, impregnated or not with silver nanoparticles, implanted in the subcutaneous tissue of the dorsal abdominal lateral left region (left flank) in horses, by observing the capacity in helping the healing of surgical wounds, preventing infections and/or suture dehiscence. It will also be evaluated the occurrence of inflammatory reactions due to the presence of chitosan membrane and it will search the possibility of rejection of the implanted material. With this study it will be possible to check the equine response due to chitosan implant, impregnated or not with silver nanoparticles, for future using of this technique on subcutaneous tissue in exploratory laparotomy wounds.