Bodyweight, not age, determines oesophageal length and breaking strength in rats
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Read the article on jpedsurg.org ↗Article · Nov 2018 · 1 min read
In brief
In brief
Rodent study demonstrates that bodyweight, rather than age, is the primary determinant of esophageal length and tissue strength. Findings suggest surgical timing for long-gap esophageal atresia repair should prioritize patient weight over chronological age when planning delayed primary anastomosis.
Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.
Background/Purpose
Delayed primary repair is still the method of choice in the management of long-gap oesophageal atresia in many centres, but the timing of anastomoses varies. Some assume the infant's bodyweight to be an important factor, whereas others prefer age. We therefore aimed to clarify whether age or bodyweight determined oesophageal length in a rodent model.
Methods
We explanted the oesophagi of 20 Sprague–Dawley rats, aged 15 to 444 days (n = two per time point), measured bodyweight, oesophageal length, weight, and linear breaking strength to measure tissue resilience. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were conducted to determine the influence of age and bodyweight on oesophageal length and linear breaking strength.
Results
All parameters were highly correlated (R > 0.8), except for age and linear breaking strength (R = 0.65). Both age and bodyweight were univariate significant predictors of oesophageal length, weight, and linear breaking strength (p