Background: Postoperative strictures, which are still serious problems of tracheal surgery, are caused by an inflammatory reaction with subsequent edema and granulation tissue formation. Taking this into consideration, we have designed a study in which tenoxicam (potent, non-steroidal, antiinflammatory drug) was used after a tracheal surgery in rats.

Methods: Fourteen female Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups (tenoxicam and control group) with equal numbers. Ketamine-xylazine anesthesia was performed in the rats. A vertical incision on the anterior tracheal wall, including the third to fifth cartilaginous rings, was performed and closed primarily with an interrupted suture technique using 4/0 absorbable suture. The tenoxicam group was administered 0.5 mg/kg/day tenoxicam and the control group was given 0.5 cc/day 0.9% NaCl via intraperitoneal route for 10 days beginning from the operation day. After two weeks, all animals were sacrificed under general anesthesia. Tracheas were excised, and a pathologist blindly evaluated the cases. The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for statistical analysis, and a value of p<0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The rat specimens were histologically evaluated and scored for inflammatory cell infiltration, angiogenesis, fibroblast proliferation, collagen deposition, and epithelial regeneration. There were meaningful differences in fibroblast proliferation (p=0.036) and epithelial regeneration (p=0.002). These results show that epithelial regeneration was higher and fibroblast proliferation was lower in the tenoxicam group.

Conclusion: Increased fibroblastic activity causes stenosis after tracheal surgery and the application of tenoxicam diminishes fibroblast proliferation and improves epithelial healing. Therefore, postoperative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug usage might be a useful therapy in the prevention of stenotic complications after tracheal surgery. However, further studies are needed.

Keywords : Structure; tenoxicam; tracheal healing; tracheal surgery