The relationship between flap survival and dressing materials

A study was carried out using cream containing 0.00025% of capsaicin, in or der to evaluate how dressing materials affect the survival of experimental flaps. Experimental flap survival increased significantly when the cream wa s applied and the flap was covered with water impermeable adhesive tape (P< 0.05, Scheffe test). However, no increase in flap survival was seen when ei ther the cream was applied without the tape, or the tape was applied withou t the cream. This suggests that flap survival in the presence of drugs or c hemicals on the flap surface may depend on the kind of dressing material us ed.