Tiam Mana Saffari

54 CHAPTER 3 the sciatic nerve was harvested bilaterally. The nerves were cleaned from external debris and decellularized using a five-day previously described decellularization protocol 24 . The nerves were sterilized using γ-irradiation and stored in a Sodium Phosphate Buffer (PBS) at 4°C until surgery. During the survival period, the Lewis rats were housed individually with a twelve-hour light-dark cycle and ad libitum access to food and water. Flap viability was evaluated after 12 (N=10) and 16 weeks (N=10). Anesthesia Rats were anesthetized in an isoflurane chamber, shaved, prepped and positioned in the nosecone to maintain anesthesia throughout the procedure. Body temperature was maintained at 37°Cwith a heating pad. Preoperatively, the following were administered subcutaneously; 5 mL of NaCl 0.9% to prevent dehydration, buprenorphine SR (Buprenorphine SR-LAB, ZooPharm pharmacy, 0.6mg/kg) for pain control and Enrofloxacin (Baytril, Bayer, Germany, 10mg/kg) providing infection prophylaxis. Postoperatively, the rats were kept warm in towels. The rats were observed daily until completion of the experiment. During sacrifice, rats were euthanized with 1 mL intraperitoneal injection of Pentobarbital Sodium (Fatal Plus, 390 mg/mL, Vortech, Dearborn, MI, USA). Surgical procedure The SIEF flap is a pedicled flap supplied by superficial inferior epigastric (SIE) vessels including both the arteries and the accompanying veins. These vessels arise from femoral vessels close to branches of the popliteal and saphenous vessels and are direct branches of the cutaneous arteries and veins. The main trunk of the SIE vessels divides into two branches. The main, lateral trunk branches from the femoral vessels in the groin and enters the abdominal wall skin. The smaller medial branch extends toward the medical abdominal skin to collateralize with a branch in the internal mammary vessel 27 (Figure 1).