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CC BY-NC 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2013; 40(05): 505-509
DOI: 10.5999/aps.2013.40.5.505
Original Article

The Relationship between Oxygen Saturation and Color Alteration of a Compromised Skin Flap: Experimental Study on the Rabbit

Theddeus O. H. Prasetyono
Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia and Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta, Indonesia
,
Senja Adianto
Department of Surgery, Dustira Army Hospital, Cimahi, Indonesia
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Background The aim of this study was to collect important data on the time of oxygen saturation change in relation to skin flap color alteration using non-invasive pulse oximetry to evaluate its ability to provide continuous monitoring of skin flap perfusion.

Methods An experimental study on the monitoring of blood perfusion of 20 tube-island groin flaps of 10 male New Zealand rabbits was performed using pulse oximetry. The animals were randomly assigned to one of two groups representing a blockage of either arterial or venous blood flow. The oxygen saturation change and clinical color alteration were monitored from the beginning of vessel clamping until the saturation became undetectable. The result was analyzed by the t-test using SSPS ver. 10.0.

Results The mean times from the vessel clamping until the saturation became undetectable were 20.19±2.13 seconds and 74.91±10.57 seconds for the artery and vein clamping groups, respectively. The mean time of the clinical alteration from the beginning of vein clamping was 34.5±11.72 minutes, while the alteration in flaps with artery clamping could not be detected until 2.5 hours after clamping.

Conclusions The use of neonate-type reusable flex sensor-pulse oximetry is objective and effective in early detection of arterial and vein blockage. It provides real-time data on vessel occlusion, which in turn will allow for early salvaging. The detection periods of both arterial occlusion and venous congestion are much earlier than the color alteration one may encounter clinically.

Keywords

Free tissue flaps - Oxygen consumption - Oximetry

This article was presented in part at the 10th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Indonesian Association of Plastic Surgeons Bali, Indonesia, May 22-23, 2006 and at the 10th International Congress of the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand (IFSSH), on March 2007 in Sydney, Australia.




Publication History

Received: 18 March 2013

Accepted: 23 May 2013

Article published online:
01 May 2022

© 2013. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, permitting unrestricted noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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