6533b829fe1ef96bd128adba

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Bodyweight, not age, determines oesophageal length and breaking strength in rats

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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.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.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  0.0001). Multivariate analyses showed bodyweight to be a significant predictor of oesophageal length (p  0.0001), whereas age was not (p = 0.18) [adjusted ROnly weight determines oesophageal length and tissue resilience in rodents, whereas age is irrelevant. If a similar relationship exists in humans, it may facilitate choosing the optimum time point for delayed primary anastomosis.IV - Experimental Paper.