INTRODUCTION: The healing process of the gastrointestinal tract is of huge importance in the surgical field history, as well as the search for appropriate types of threads and suture techniques and the many factors that influence it. The use of phytotherapic drugs as accelerators of the healing process has been done for many years and is one of the current objectives of scientific researches trying to prove its therapeutic properties. PURPOSE: To evaluate the use of Jatropha gossypiifolia L. extract on the healing process of gastrorraphies in rats. METHODS: Forty wistar male rats were divided in 2 groups of 20 rats, named control and Jatropha groups. Ten animals of each group were killed in the third day post-surgery and were named control and Jatropha groups of the 3rd day. The remaining 10 animals of each group were killed in the seventh day and were named accordingly for the 7th day. In each animal, gastrostomy and gastrorraphy were performed in a single plane using polypropylene thread 6-0 (Prolene). The animals from the Jatropha group were given a single dose of 200 mg/kg of the Jatropha gossypiifolia L. extract intraperitoneally on the same day of the procedure and the ones from the control group were given the same quantity in milliliters (ml), but of saline solution (sodium chloride 0.9%). The following parameters were evaluated: 1) macroscopic alterations; 2) the suture's resistance to atmospheric air insufflation (pressure of rupture); 3) histologic characteristics. RESULTS: No animal died during the clinical follow-up and optimal healing of the abdominal wall was seen without any signs of infection, dehiscence, abscesses or peritonitis. Healing of the serous surface was considered good in all animals, without occurrence of fistulas; however, intraperitoneal adhesions occurred in 7 rats of the sub-group control and 9 of the sub-group Jatropha on the 3rd day post-operative and in 9 of the sub-group control and 8 of the sub-group Jatropha on the 7th day, but the differences were not statistically significant between the groups. Healing of the mucous surface was classified as good in all the animals. The resistance of the gastrorraphies to the atmospheric air insufflation showed statistically significant increase of the rupture pressure in the Jatropha group during the 3rd day of observation. Histologic evaluation showed differences that were statistically significant, considered the criteria, as well as reduced acute inflammatory reaction and better coaptation of the edges in the sub-group Jatropha of 7th post-surgery, when comparet to the sub-group control of the same period. CONCLUSION: The raw extract of Jatropha gossypiifolia L. aids the healing on the 3rd day post-surgery, concerning the enhanced resistance of the gastrorraphies to pressure of rupture, and on the 7th day, presenting better coaptation of the edges and reducing acute inflammatory reaction by microscopic analyses.
Rats; Jatropha gossypiifolia L; Wound Healing; Insufflation
