The Early Circulation in Free Split Skin Grafts After General Infiltration and Percutaneous Anaesthesia

Abstract

The capillary lumen and the occurrence of intravasal erythrocytes in split skin grafts from guinea pigs have been studied with the aid of light microscopy from the time the grafts were cut until the transplants had been in contact with a standardized recipient area for 48 hours. In order to relieve pain, general anaesthesia with ether or local anaesthesia by infiltration was used, as well as epicutaneous application of a solution of ketocaine. A 2358. On cutting split skin grafts following general anaesthesia with ether or subcutaneous infiltration of lidocaine-adrenalin, vascular constriction in the transplants was noted. A tendency towards normalization of the parameters was observed 48 hours after transplantation in animals anaesthetized with ether. Vascular constriction did not occur in 4 transplants out of 5 when the split skin was cut following percutaneous anaesthesia. At all times following transplantation, the blood vessels of these grafts were found to be of normal width containing large numbers of erythrocytes.