The effect of desferrioxamine on lipid peroxidation and survival of ischaemic island skin flaps in rats.

To produce total necrosis, it was found necessary to subject pedicled groin flaps in rats to 16 hours of warm ischaemia (WI) (whether clamped in situ or removed and maintained at 37 degrees C ex vivo before replantation). Biochemical markers of lipid peroxidation (Schiff bases and thiobarbituric acid (TBA)-reactive material) in homogenates of full thickness skin or of subcutaneous fat rose significantly (p less than 0.001) after 14 hours of WI and reperfusion in vivo. Desferrioxamine (15 mg/kg i.v.) administered systemically either before 14 h WI only, before reperfusion only after 14 h WI or in both circumstances inhibited these rises to near-control (fresh tissue) levels. In survival experiments, this treatment also protected these flaps from necrosis (p less than 0.01).