Materials and Methods: Tracheae were collected from freshly slaughtered healthy sheep weighing 25-30 kg (2-3 years old) that were acquired from the local slaughterhouse. Twenty-eight tracheae were transported to the laboratory within an hour of slaughter and then dissected to remove the esophagus before obtaining 20-cm long tracheae. All tracheae were transected at the midpoint. In Groups 1 and 2, the transected tracheae were anastomosed by using interrupted 3-0 Vicryl sutures. In Groups 3 and 4, after anastomosing the transected tracheae with interrupted 3-0 Vicryl, the sites of anastomosis were reinforced by using Polyglycolic acid mesh. Groups 1 and 3 were tested for tensile strength, while Groups 2 and 4 were tested for pressure resistance.

Results: The median pressure was 49.00 ± 7.47 mmHg in the group anastomosed with only Vicryl, whereas it was measured as 70 ± 13.49 mmHg in the group on which the anastomoses were reinforced with PGA mesh. The median force needed to break anastomoses were 166.40 ± 24.28 Newton in the Vicryl-only group and 136.80 ± 34.93 newton in the PGA- reinforced group. The difference between the pressure resistance values of the Vicryl-only group and the PGA reinforced group was significant (p = 0.006). However, the difference with regard to the tensile strength was insignificant (p = 0.201).

Conclusion: We found that the reinforcement of the anastomosis site with polyglycolic acid mesh significantly increases the pressure resistance but does not significantly affect tensile strength. Keywords : trachea, anastomoses, polyglycolic acid