Correcting Concavity of Rabbit Auricular Cartilage: Comparison of Single Scoring Incisions with Butyl Cyanoacrylate-Aided Techniques

Background: The authors present the results of an experimental study in which four different techniques were used for the correction of concave rabbit auricular cartilage. Methods: Sixteen New Zealand adult male rabbits were used in the study. Butyl cyanoacrylate-aided cartilage graft fixation and butyl cyanoacrylate-aided bone graft fixation and scoring technique, alone or combined with butyl cyanoacrylate application, were performed to correct the concavity of rabbit auricular cartilage. Results: Angle measurements showed that all four techniques were efficient for correction of the cartilage concavities. However, the mean postsacrifice angles of the graft fixation groups were significantly higher than those of the other study groups, reflecting the fact that graft fixation with butyl cyanoacrylate application was more efficient for preserving the final cartilage shape. Furthermore, in the ninth month, graft fixation groups had the lowest chondrocyte densities, the highest degree of inflammation, the highest degree of foreign body reaction, and the highest butyl cyanoacrylate density. Conclusions: Fibrosis or chondrocyte proliferation on scoring incision lines is not an associated feature of this technique. When the incision depths were standardized, the scoring technique provided efficacy similar to that of the scoring incisions combined with butyl cyanoacrylate application for correction of the cartilage concavity. The scoring incision plus butyl cyanoacrylate group showed less toxicity than the graft fixation groups because of rapid removal of toxic breakdown products. Graft fixation techniques were superior to other corrective procedures with regard to preservation of the final cartilage shape. Although they resulted in greater toxicity, the cartilage correction was not affected unfavorably.