Preventing Testicular Damage in Genital Burns With Cooling: An Experimental Study
Abstract
Aim: Investigate changes in testes after cooling scrotal burns with melaleuca hydrogel after burn trauma.
Materials and Methods: Twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups of 10 testes each. Five animals in the sham group were anesthetized; both testes were removed through a lower transverse abdominal incision. In the burn-induced groups, a tin container filled with boiling water was used to induce burns. In group T30, scrota were fixed in a hole in a 25×30 cm porcelain wall tile plate and contacted the steam for 30 seconds; in groups T60 and TB60 (melaleuca hydrogel application group), the same procedure was done for 60 seconds. Excisional biopsies of the testes in all groups were done 1 hour later. Proliferation indexes for spermatogenic cells were measured using a PCNA labeling index. Apoptotic activity in spermatogenic cells was measured using the TUNEL index. Epidermal and dermal damage to the skin was measured semiquantitatively.
Results: No significant differences were found regarding proliferative indexes in any group. Increased apoptotic activity was observed in the T30 group, testicular degeneration began with a high apoptotic rate in spermatogenic cells at 60 seconds (P<.05). Application of melaleuca hydrogel to the scrotum after 60- second steam-burn trauma decreased apoptotic activity levels to those of the T30 group (immunehistochemistry) (P>.05). No degeneration of the spermatogenic cells was seen in the TB60 group.
Conclusions: Immediate cooling by applying melaleuca hydrogel after burn trauma decreases the amount of testicular damage in a rat model of experimental scrotal steam burns.
Keywords
Burns, Genital, Cooling, Testis, Experimental, Melaleuca hydrogel
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