Abstract

Aim: To review the ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) studies presented at the annual meetings of the Turkish Association of Pediatric Surgeons for the last decade.

Material and Method: The abstracts of the papers presented at the Annual Meetings of the Turkish Association of Pediatric Surgeons (AMTAPS) between 1999 and 2008 were searched in the database of Turkish Association of Pediatric Surgeons website (www.tccd.org.tr). The papers were reviewed for the sort of study, the experimental animals used, the organs or tissues studied, the antioxidant agents used, the outcomes , and the clinical trials of the antioxidant agents. 10 of the most common used antioxidant agents in the experimental studies were scanned on the PubMed for clinical trials.

Results: A total number of 1816 papers (648 free papers and 1168 papers) were presented at AMTAPS during this period. 108 (5.9 %) of these papers were related to IRI. 105 of the papers were experimental and 3 of them were clinical studies. 97 (92.3 %) of experimental studies were performed in rats and 8 (7.6 %) of were performed in rabbits. 14 different organs and tissue were studied. The tissues studied were as follow according to frequency ; Intestine 39, testis 35, kidney 10, lung 4, esophagus 3, stomach 3, liver 3, and ovary 3. 53 different antioxidant agents were used in the experimental studies. Any antioxidant agent was not used in the clinical trial. Three of the agents worsened, and 45 of the agents attenuated IRI whereas 5 of the agents found to have no effect on IRI. The most common used antioxidant agents according to frequency were as follows; Melatonin 8, amrinone 4, pen- toxifylline 4, methylene blue 4, N-acetylcysteine 4, lipoic acid 3, caffeic acid phenethyl ester 3, diclofenac sodium 3, resveratrol 3, 3-aminobenzamide 3, and Larginin and L-NAME 3. 31 of the agents were used for once in the studies. PubMed scan showed that 5 of 10 antioxidant agents were used in the clinical trials.

Conclusion: IRI studies constitute 5.9 % of the papers presented at the AMTAPS. Almost all of the studies were experimental. Most of the agents were used for once and over a short period. We think that the antioxidant agents which are demonstrated to attenuate the IRI by multiple experimental studies and which are safe for children should be supported for clinical trials.