OBJECTIVE: General objective: To compare the efficacy of chitosan solution impregnated nasal packing with normal saline solution impregnated nasal packing on wound healing of the nasal mucosa in rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Specific objective: To determine the difference between the effects of chitosan solution impregnated nasal packing compared with normal saline solution impregnated nasal packing on wound healing of the nasal mucosa in rabbits particularly on various aspects of wound healing as to epithelialization, vascularization, inflammation and fibrosis. DESIGN: Experimental design SETTING: Santo Tomas University Hospital MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY: This study is a randomized double blind clinical study. After giving the rabbits Ketamine HCI about 0.3-0.5 mm square area of the floor of the nasal mucosa was excised and sent for histopathology for baseline studies. Impregnated nasal packings where placed on the wounds and removed after forty eight hours. After two weeks about 0.3-0.5 mm of nasal mucosa was harvested on both nostrils and sent to the pathologist for review. RESULTS: There were four parameters of wound healing that were evaluated in this study, namely epithelialization, vascularization, inflammation and fibrosis. A comparison of the effect of chitosan and NSS on wound healing were compared in each of these 4 parameters. Statistical tests showed that on the basis of epithelialization, chitosan was significantly better than that of NSS (p<0.05). Chitosan was also found to be significantly better than that of NSS in terms of inflammation (p<0.05) and ftbrosis (p<0.05). There was no difference noted however in the aspect of vascularization between chitosan and NSS (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The chitosan solution impregnated nasal packing was found to be significantly better than the NSS solution impregnated naeal packing on three of the four parameters of wound healing that were evaluated in this study in terms of epithelialization, inflammation and fibrosis but there was no difference noted in the aspect of vascularization between chitosan and NSS solutions. (Author)
CHITOSAN WOUND HEALING NASAL MUCOSA RABBITS