Abstract
The efficacy of the sulfonamides in the systemic treatment of certain types of infection has been definitely established. During the past few years several communications 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 have described and recommended the application of these drugs directly into raw wounds as a prophylactic or therapeutic measure against infection. Most of these reports based their contentions upon qualitative impressions gathered from the observation of a small series of patients rather than upon controlled studies. Before indiscriminately depositing these drugs into a raw wound it is essential to determine first of all whether they have any noxious effect upon the tissues involved in the healing of the wound. Bricker and Graham 7 reported that the systemic administration of sulfanilamide had an inhibitory effect upon the healing of stomach wounds in dogs during the first 7 postoperative days. Taffel and Harvey 8 found that sulfanilamide did not affect the healing of stomach wounds in rats during all of the normal phases of healing. The drug was given orally in doses sufficient to maintain an adequate and sustained “therapeutic” blood level.
This series of experiments was carried out to determine the effect of the local application of sulfanilamide upon the healing of a soft tissue wound. Adult white rats weighing about 250 g were used. The tensile strength of the wound served as an index of healing. In addition, histological studies were made of the wounds.
I. Experimental Group. 57 animals. This group was maintained throughout the duration of the experiment on a diet of Purina Dog Chow. On the 3rd day of the diet the stomach was delivered through an incision in the anterior abdominal wall and 0.2 cc of a 3% suspension of sulfanilamide in normal saline were injected through a fine needle into the wall of the cardia.
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