ArticleCureus2026
Effect of Locally-Administered Pioglitazone on the Survival of Dermal Skin Flaps in an Experimental Study on Rats.
Article in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background Distal necrosis remains a common limitation of random-pattern skin flaps due to progressive decline in perfusion and ischemia-reperfusion injury. Pioglitazone, a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) agonist, has anti-inflammatory effects, but systemic administration may be limited by adverse effects. This study evaluated whether local pioglitazone delivery improves the survival of a random-pattern dorsal skin flap in rats. Materials and methods Sixteen female Wistar rats were allocated into two groups (n=8/group). A cranially based random-pattern dorsal skin flap was elevated in all animals. In the treatment group, pioglitazone was injected subcutaneously into the flap immediately after elevation; the control group received no additional intervention. Flaps were monitored daily, and animals were euthanised on postoperative day eight. Distal flap tissue was harvested, fixed in 10% formalin, processed, and evaluated by Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining. Necrosis was quantified histologically. Normality was assessed using the Shapiro-Wilk test, and group comparisons were performed using an independent-samples t-test. Severity categories were compared using Chi-Square and Fisher's exact test. Results Necrosis values followed normal distribution (Shapiro-Wilk
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