EFFECT OF PLATELET-RICH PLASMA GEL ON GRAFT SKIN HEALING IN EQUINES

Abstract The platelet-rich plasma (PRP) gel is an autologous platelet concentration in a small plasma volume with the potential to improve the integration of the grafts. Eight adult equines were used, performing skin grafts, with 2.5x2.5 centimeters, on both sides of the neck, in which one was the treatment side, using the PRP gel, and the other side was the control. The animals were assessed after the surgery on days 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28, by clinical, histological, morphometric, and culture analysis of the grafts. The clinical, morphological, and biological analysis of tissue grafts revealed no significant differences between the control group and the treatment group with PRP. Histologic evaluation revealed an increase in acute inflammation on day 7 and collagen concentration on day 14, resulting from the release of growth factors by the platelets present in the gel, which did not differ in further moments. According to the experimental conditions used in this study, we concluded there were no significant differences between the side treated with PRP and the control side in skin grafts in horses.