Despite the known effectiveness of anti-inflammatory therapy in reducing 
reperfusion injury, no studies to date involve the use of anti-inflammatory 
therapy in reducing ischemia-reperfusion injury in fasciocutaneous flaps. 
Dexamethasone (a phospholipase A2 inhibitor) and specific cyclooxygenase and 
lipoxygenase inhibitors (indomethacin and BW755C) were administered to rats with 
ischemic island groin (fasciocutaneous) flaps. Significant improvement in 
ischemic flap survival was found with dexamethasone and BW755C. The mode of 
action of dexamethasone was not specifically investigated in our study; however, 
it may suppress neutrophil function and reduce ischemia-reperfusion injury in 
its shared ability with BW755C to reduce the formation of leukotrienes. 
Dexamethasone could be applied in the clinical setting to reduce ischemic flap 
loss by attenuating the systemic inflammatory response to reperfused 
ischemic-damaged tissue.