The effect of hyaluronidase and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on experimental skin flap survival.

Hyaluronidase has been shown clinically and experimentally to reduce the effects of tissue ischemia in myocardial infarction and hemorrhagic shock. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) has been shown to reverse the effects of cerebral ischemia in the primate model. A caudally based dorsal skin flap in the rat was used to study the effects of these two drugs in physiological doses on skin flaps, and to investigate their mechanisms of action. This study demonstrates that both hyaluronidase and DMSO, which are nontoxic in physiological doses, can increase the surviving length of an experimental skin flap. It is hypothesized that these substances exert their effect by decreasing tissue edema and by aiding in the transport of nutritive substances to the flap during its acute phase.