Oxidized cellulose for preventing adnexal adhesions.

Oxidized cellulose gauze (Surgicel) was evaluated for its ability to prevent postsurgical pelvic adhesions. Ten New Zealand white female rabbits were subjected to laparotomy and standardized bilateral trauma to the fimbria and ovaries. On one side in each rabbit the ovary and uterine tube were wrapped in Surgicel. The untreated side in each rabbit served as the control. Four weeks later the rabbits' pelvises were reexplored, and the adhesions on both sides were scored. The overall adhesion scores on the treated sides (mean +/- SD = 4.24 +/- 1.28) were significantly higher than those on the control sides (mean +/- SD = 1.5 +/- 1.06, P less than .001). Surgicel appeared to enhance, rather than prevent, adhesion formation in the rabbits.