S. Yüceyar () • S. Ertürk • M. Temiz • A. Cengiz • Y. Kafadar Department of Surgery Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Istanbul University, Turkey E-mail: syuceyar@isbank.net.tr G. Dog ˘usoy Department of Pathology Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Istanbul University, Turkey K. Gümüştaş Department of Biochemistry Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Istanbul University, Turkey M. Özgürog ˘lu Department of Medical Oncology Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty Istanbul University, Turkey end to end colonic anastomosis. Methods 42 rats were allo- cated to 2 main groups (n=21 for each group) to be evalu- ated on postperative day 3 (group A) and postoperative day 7 (group B). Each of the two main groups was divided into 3 subgroups (7 rats each). These subgroups were deter- mined as control and two treatment groups administered paclitaxel in a dose of 2.5 mg/kg and 3.5 mg/kg intraperi- toneally. Anastomosed segments of colon were harvested on postoperative day 3 or 7 and evaluated to determine bursting pressure of anastomoses, hydroxyproline levels and neovascularization with CD-31. Results In both groups, there were no significant differences between con- trol and paclitaxel-treated groups with respect to bursting pressure. The level of hydroxyproline showed a significant decrease in all paclitaxel-treated groups compared with control groups (p=0.001). Neovascularization was found to be decreased significantly on day 3 in the doses of pacli- taxel 2.5 mg/kg (6.4±1.63) and 3.5 mg/kg (5.89±1.01) compared with control (8.02±0.88) (p=0.029 and p=0.005, respectively). There were no significant differences in neo- vascularization in either groups on postoperative day 7. Conclusions We suggest that intraperitoneal administration of paclitaxel during surgical procedure decreases the hydroxyproline content and neovessel formation that are necessary for healing of intestinal anastomosis. Key words Intraperitoneal chemotherapy • Paclitaxel • Wound healing • Colonic anastomosis • Antiangiogenesis Introduction The resective procedures applied for intraabdominal tumors through open or laparoscopic techniques may result in seed- ing of tumor cells into the peritoneal cavity. Clinical and experimental studies have been performed to understand how to prevent implantation of these cells and budding of S. Yüceyar • S. Ertürk • M. Temiz • G. Dog ˘ usoy • K. Gümüştaş • M. Özgürog ˘ lu • A. Cengiz • Y. Kafadar Role of the antiangiogenetic drug paclitaxel on healing of intestinal anastomosis: an experimental study Received: 17 August 2004 / Accepted: 27 June 2005 / Published online: 21 November 2005 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Abstract Background The aim of intraperitoneal admin- istration of antineoplastic agents is the prevention of the implantation of tumoral cells after surgical intervention or the treatment of peritoneal carcinomatosis. The efficiency of intraperitoneal administration of paclitaxel, which is also an antiangiogenetic agent, has been investigated recently. The aim of this experimental study was to evalu- ate, taking into consideration its antiangiogenetic proper- ties, the effects of intraperitoneal paclitaxel on healing of Tech Coloproctol (2005) 9:201–205 DOI 10.1007/s10151-005-0227-0