THE PREVENTION OF EXPERIMENTALLY-INDUCED POSTOPERATIVE ADHESIONS

For many years, various substances have been used to prevent postopera tive adhesions, with suboptimal effectiveness. Saline has been postula ted to have a positive effect, but it is reabsorbed from the abdominal cavity within 24 hours. To determine whether a longer-lasting intrape ritoneal solution would be effective in preventing postoperative adhes ions, 36 rats were divided into three groups: in 15 rats, a 2.5 per ce nt hyperosmolar solution of peritoneal dialysis fluid was injected int raperitoneally immediately following exploratory laparotomy, which inc luded traumatization of the intestinal serosa at two sites; in 12 rats , normal saline was injected by the same procedure; and in 9 rats, no fluid was injected after the same operation. After 3 weeks, the group receiving the hyperosmolar peritoneal dialysis solution achieved the b est results in both sites, the group that received normal saline showe d marginal improvement, and the control group fared the worst.