Background: Necrosis of the bronchial stump is a very important trigger for bronchopleural fistula. The administration of local autologous platelet-poor plasma (PPP) could protect the bronchial stump. Materials and methods: Left pneumonectomy was performed in 25 Sprague-Dawley rats. Animals were randomly assigned to a control group (n ¼ 13) and PPP group (n ¼ 12). PPP was locally administered on the bronchial stump after pneumonectomy. We analyzed histologic changes in the bronchial stump and messenger RNA expression changes of genes involved in wound repair at 10 and 20 d. Results: Local PPP treatment produced a mass of fibrous tissue surrounding the bronchial stump and significantly decreased the presence of necrosis at 20 d. PPP increased the expression of insulin like growth factor 1 at 10 d although it did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that local PPP treatment of the bronchial stump after pneumonectomy decreased necrosis and could have a protective effect on the bronchial stump.