USE OF POLYPENTAPEPTIDES OF ELASTIN TO PREVENT POSTOPERATIVE ADHESIONS - EFFICACY IN A CONTAMINATED PERITONEAL MODEL

We investigated the use of a sheet of polypentapeptide of elastin as a physical barrier to adhesion formation in a contaminated peritoneal w ound model. A total of 88 rats were studied with random assignment of animals to three study groups; control (29), polypentapeptide steam st erilized (30), and polypentapeptide gas sterilized (29). Animals were anesthetized and a laparotomy was conducted to reveal the cranial port ion of the ileum. The abdominal wall muscle peritoneum was excoriated until hemorrhage was noted. In sham animals, there was no physical bar rier placed between bowel loop and the abdominal wall. In two of the s tudy groups, the polypentapeptide sheet was placed directly over the e xcoriated area. The intestinal loop was then loosely secured to excori ated area with 2-0 nylon (stay suture) which was tied subcutaneously i n all groups. Four puncture wounds were made with a 20-gauge hypodermi c needle in the bowel that was apposed to the excoriated peritoneal mu sculature which allowed leakage of intestinal contents and contaminati on. On Day 7 postsurgery, the animals were anesthetized and the stay s uture was removed. On Day 14, all animals were sacrificed and adhesion s were graded. The incidence of significant adhesions was 28% for the barrier group versus 90% for control animals (P < 0.05). The results o f this study indicate that the polypentapeptide of elastin sheet is an effective physical barrier in this surgically induced contaminated wo und model. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.