The effect of octreotide on postoperative adhesion formation

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of octreotide, a long-acting analogue of somatostatin, on postoperative adhesion formation, because somatostatin inhibits secretion of some growth factors that have modulatory effects on c ollagen synthesis. DESIGN: An experimental study. SETTING: Surgical Research and Biochemistry laboratories at Hacettepe Unive rsity, Ankara, Turkey. SUBJECTS: Male Swiss albino mice. INTERVENTIONS: Both sides of a 5-cm ileal segment from Swiss albino mice we re scraped 10 times, and transient ischemia was induced by clamping the seg mental artery. Animals were injected subcutaneously with 1 mL/d of saline f or 3 days (group 1), a single 5-mL intraperitoneal dose of saline (group 2) , subcutaneously with 10 mu g/kg daily of octreotide for 3 days (group 3) o r a single 10 mu g/kg intraperitoneal dose of octreotide (group 4), In half of the animals repeat laparotomy was performed on postoperative day 5. Aft er adhesions were graded, the scraped ileal segments were excised for deter mination of hydroxyproline quantity. The same procedure was repeated on pos toperative day 14 for the remaining animals. OUTCOME MEASURES: Adhesion grading, hydroxyproline levels. RESULTS: On postoperative day 5, the intraperitoneal octreotide group (grou p 4) had a significantly lower median adhesion score than groups 1 and 2. O n postoperative day 14, both octreotide groups (3 and 4) had a significantl y lower median adhesion grading than both saline groups (1 and 2). Hydroxyp roline levels of the groups were not significantly different on either day 5 or day 14. CONCLUSION: Octreotide has a beneficial effect in decreasing adhesion forma tion in the early postoperative period.