The effect of hyaluronate-carboxymethyl-cellulose on the formation of postoperative adhesion in stomach visceral peritoneum damage.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aimed at investigating the effect of placing hyaluronate- carboxymethyl-cellulose membrane (HCMC) on the formation of adhesion postoperatively in a damaged area in the peritoneum of the anterior stomach wall.

METHODS

The study was conducted on 30 rabbits. A transverse peritoneal damage was inflicted on the stomach anterior walls of all rabbits. In the first treatment group, HCMC was placed on the sutured anterior wall of stomach of 15 rabbits. In the second control group, on the other hand, no treatment was conducted on 15 rabbits. On the 30th day after the operation, relaparatomy was performed on the rabbits and adhesions were evaluated by an independent surgeon according to seriousness and prevalence scores.

RESULTS

There were postoperative adhesions (POA) in 12 (80 %) rabbits in the control group. On the other hand, there were POA in 5 rabbits (33.3 %) in the treatment group. In the treatment group, adhesion was totally prevalent in 2 rabbits (13.3 %), whereas this ratio was 7 (46.6 %) in the control group (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

The study suggested that the use of hyaluronate-carboxymethyl-cellulose could be beneficial on damaged peritoneum surfaces following abdominal surgery in order to reduce POA development to a minimum (Tab. 3, Fig. 3, Ref. 22).