Removal of surgical barriers of expanded polytetrafluorethylene at second-look laparoscopy was not associated with adhesion formation

Postsurgical Adhesions: Is There Any Prophylactic Strategy Really Working?

Postoperative adhesions are a frequent complication encountered after surgical procedures, mainly after intraperitoneal interventions. To this day, the pathophysiological mechanism behind the process of adhesions formation is not completely known. There are many strategies proposed as prophylaxis methods, involving surgical techniques, drugs or materials that prevent adhesions and even state of the art technologies such as nanoparticles or gene therapy. The aim of our review is to present these innovative approaches and techniques for postoperative adhesions prevention. After a thorough scientific database query, we selected 84 articles published in the past 15 years that were relevant to our topic. Despite all the recent groundbreaking discoveries, we are at an early stage of understanding the complexity of the adhesion formation mechanism. Further investigations should be made in order to create an ideal product for safe clinical use for prevention.

Pregnancy outcomes after myomectomy with polytetrafluoroethylene placement

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to report preliminary data on pregnancy outcomes after myomectomy with placement of an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene adhesion barrier membrane.

METHODS

In this retrospective case series, 68 women who underwent myomectomy with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane placement between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2009, were identified. Of these women, 15 subsequently had documented pregnancies and were included in the final dataset.

RESULTS

Eighteen pregnancies were documented among 15 women. There were no reported cases of preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of membranes, or uterine rupture.

CONCLUSION

In this case series, there were no documented cases of preterm labor, preterm premature rupture of membranes, or uterine rupture after myomectomy with expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane placement.

Peritoneal adhesions: facing the enemy

BACKGROUND

Postsurgical adhesions severely affect the quality of life of millions of people worldwide. Numerous attempts have been made to prevent or reduce the incidence of peritoneal adhesions, but with limited success.

DATA SOURCES

An extensive Medline search, textbooks, scientific reports and scientific journals are the data sources. We also reviewed reference lists in all articles retrieved in the search as well as those of major texts regarding postsurgical intraperitoneal adhesion formation.

CONCLUSIONS

A multifactorial approach including minimizing tissue injury, prophylactic antibiotic usage to reduce infectious morbidity, and biochemical agents with or without biomechanical barriers will reduce the amount and severity of adhesions. However, further research is needed to establish the safety, effectiveness and also the cost/benefit ratio of these substances in human subjects.

Intérêt des produits antiadhérentiels en chirurgie gynécologique

Adhesion barriers are intraperitoneal agents, solid or fluid, developed in order to prevent postoperative adhesions. In this article, we evaluate the efficiency of these new barrier agents for adhesion prevention in gynaecologic surgery, undertaking a review of controlled clinical trials published. Several human clinical trials demonstrated the safety and efficiency of both Interceed and Seprafilm. As far as other barrier agents are concerned, data are still insufficient to recommend them for clinical use. There is a need for other randomised controlled trials in order to evaluate functional efficiency of anti adhesion agents.

Pelvic Adhesions: Laparoscopic Approach

A retrospective study using the American Fertility Society's Adhesion Scoring Method and the MCASM (More Comprehensive Adhesion Scoring Method) and a prospective, randomized, controlled, multicenter trial (Canadian Task Force Classification I) were conducted. Of 2124 cases operated by laparoscopy, 465 patients had adhesions. Fifty-one female patients underwent open or laparoscopic myomectomy procedures with vs. without application of SprayGel adhesion barrier prevention, followed by second-look laparoscopy to evaluate postoperative adhesions. Details of the 465 cases of adhesiolysis are given. In subgroup 1 (n = 34) there were no preexisting adhesions. All 34 patients were assessed at a second-look laparoscopy for adhesion occurrence after 6-8 weeks; 29.4% were found to have no adhesions and 70.6% of patients had significant or mild adhesions. In subgroup 2, 21 patients who had undergone previous surgery for adhesiolysis were operated upon again, and 24% revealed an increased adhesion score, 57% the same adhesion score, and 19% a reduced adhesion score at second-look laparoscopy. Out of 51 patients enrolled, 45 were randomized to either treatment (n = 24) or control (n = 21). Three to sixteen weeks following surgery, 18 of 24 treatment patients (75%) and 13 of 21 controls (61.9%) had second-look laparoscopies (SLL). SLL showed 5 of 18 treatment patients (27.8%) were adhesion free vs. 1 in 13 of controls (7.7%). Patients randomized to SprayGel treatment were 3.6 times more likely to be adhesion free than patients randomized to control. Compared to the initial surgery, the severity score showed a 22% reduction in the treated group vs. a 39% increase in the control group, and a 12% reduction of adhesion area in the treated group vs. a 37% increase in the control group at SLL. New data confirmed previous knowledge: To avoid adhesions you must avoid surgery. If surgery has to be performed, laparoscopic surgery causes fewer adhesions than laparotomy. SprayGel was shown to be effective in reducing postoperative adhesions after laparoscopic and open myomectomy. Application of this adhesion barrier prevention system is fast, easy, and safe. Further studies are needed to confirm the promising results of this interim analysis.