[Postoperative abdominal adhesions and their prevention in gynaecological surgery: I. What should you know?]

Surgical adhesions among women undergoing laparoscopic gynecological surgery with or without adhesiolysis - prevalence, severity, and implications: retrospective cohort study at a University Hospital

Objective:

To find out the prevalence of adhesions, severity, and their relation to the current clinical scenario and to the type of previous surgery.

Methods and Materials:

A retrospective study of patients who already had different previous abdominopelvic surgery and subsequently underwent gynecological laparoscopic surgery for various indications. The patients’ clinical and operative notes were reviewed and analyzed.

Results:

There were 654 procedures performed. The most common indication for the laparoscopic surgery was secondary infertility 23.5%, followed by adnexal lesions 22.0% and primary infertility 19.6%. Intraoperative adhesions were found in 45.3%. Adhesions were deemed relevant to the clinical scenario in 21.3%. Patients who had a previous history of open (traditional) surgery were more likely to be found with adhesions in comparison with patients with history of laparoscopic surgery (odds ratio: 2.7, 95% confidence interval: 1.4–5.3, p = 0.0025). The presence of adhesions was found to be strongly associated with previous abdominopelvic surgery than non-abdominopelvic surgery (odds ratio: 4.3, p = 0.0078, 95% confidence interval: 1.5–12.5). The most common location of the adhesions was abdominal (36.1%), mixed abdominal and pelvic (35.1%), and pelvic adhesions (28.1%). Severe adhesions were found in 36.1%; 13.6% of converted laparoscopy to open surgery was due to adhesions. Cesarean sections were significantly associated with adhesions. Patients who had cesarean sections were more likely to have adhesions than those who had not (odds ratio: 5.7, 95% confidence interval: 3.8–8.6, p < 0.0001). Adhesiolysis was done without complications in 19.6% of patients with adhesions.

Conclusion:

Adhesions were prevalent in gynecological patients with previous abdominopelvic surgery. They were a significant contributor to the gynecological and reproductive issues. To minimize the risk of postoperative adhesions, laparoscopic approach should be encouraged instead of traditional surgery and rates of cesarean section should be reduced. Further high-quality studies are needed to establish conclusion and practical guidance toward the use of adhesion barriers.

[Prevention of bleeding during laparotomic myomectomy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Contribution to the tourniquet on the uterine isthmus]

OBJECTIVES

To appreciate the decrease of bleeding by myomectomy by the use of a tourniquet on the uterine isthmus.

METHODS

We conducted a case-control retrospective study from March 2014 to February 2016 in the Gynecology and obstetrics Department of the university hospital of Yopougon (Abidjan, Ivory Coast). It interested 100 patients of which 50 had a myomectomy with the tourniquet on the uterine isthmus and 50 without the tourniquet. None of the patients received pre-operative preventive treatment. The criteria for comparison were the blood loss per operative and the pre-and post-operative hemoglobin levels.

RESULTS

The average age of patients was 33 years. Nulliparous women were the group most affected (68% of our patients) with 32% infertile women in the group with the tourniquet and 18% in the group without the tourniquet. Patients without tourniquet presented more bleeding than patients with tourniquet (X2=13.61) with a higher proportion of anemic patients in the group without the tourniquet. The differences were significant. The tourniquet has made it possible to realize the resection of a larger number of myoma. The duration of hospital stay was 4 days on average in both groups and no complications were observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The application of a tourniquet on the uterine isthmus during laparotomic myomectomy has a benefit in reducing intraoperative blood loss.

Treatment of the scar after arthroscopic surgery on a knee

The aim of this paper is to present a treatment for scars based on percutaneous traction. This is a structural technique in which movements are performed against the barriers detected in different planes. The stages of this technique are described in detail along with the results after applying it to a postarthroscopic scar on a knee. The active and passive mobility of femoro-tibial and femoro-patellar articulations improved substantially after the treatment, as verified by signs such as pain relief, greater flexibility, disappearance of inflammation and a major recovery of tissue elasticity. A sonoelastography study of the portals and patellar tendon was carried out before and after therapy, showing semiquantitatively the recovery of the viscoelastic properties of the tissue.

A novel spherical magnetic compression device for colorectal anastomosis in a Swine model

BACKGROUND

We designed a novel, spherical magnetic compression colorectal anastomosis device and established a swine model to assess the feasibility and safety, as well as advantages, of the device.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

Fifteen animals were divided into five groups (sacrificed on Days 3, 5 7, 9, and 14) with 3 in each group. In each group, a magnetic compression device was used in 2 animals (experimental animals), and a stapled device was used in 1 animal (control animal). Feeding status, bowel movements, the discharge time of the magnetic anastomosis device, burst pressure, and magnetic field strength were recorded. Gross anatomical and histological examinations were performed.

RESULTS

The average device discharge time was 7.5 days. The burst pressure increased over time for both the experimental and control animals. Both the gross anatomical and histological examinations suggested that the inflammatory reaction was milder. Healing occurred more quickly, and the incidence of complications was lower for the experimental animals than for the control animals.

CONCLUSIONS

The potential benefits of the spherical magnetic compression colorectal anastomosis device, relative to the stapled device, were in terms of effectiveness and complication incidence, which encourages us to further study its application in gastrointestinal anastomosis.

[Post-cesarean parietal scar characteristics are predictive of pelvic adhesions. A prospective cohort study]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether abdominal scar characteristics could predict the incidence and severity of intra-abdominal adhesions found at repeat cesarean delivery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Prospective cohort study including 151pregnant women with at least one previous cesarean delivery and who delivered abdominally in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology of Farhat Hached teaching hospital-Sousse-Tunisia, during 6 months. Abdominal scar characteristics were studied. The main outcome measure(s) were the incidence and severity of intra-abdominal adhesions. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 18.0.

RESULTS

Of 151 women enrolled into this trial, 111 (73.5%) had adhesions, 57 (37.8%) had dense adhesions. Of all the abdominal scar characteristics studied, a depressed scar was associated with an increased incidence of both dense and filmy intra-abdominal adhesions and frozen pelvis if compared of women who did not have a depressed scar (P<10(-4) ; RR=7.6; IC=2.98-19.45). A number of previous cesarean section equal or more than 2 was also correlated with an increased incidence of severe intra-abdominal adhesions and frozen pelvis if compared with women who had only one previous cesarean section (P=0.002; RR=2.53; IC=1.16-5.56).

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

A depressed abdominal scar of a previous cesarean delivery and a number of previous cesarean sections are significantly correlated with the incidence and severity of intra-abdominal adhesions.