Prevention of postoperative adhesions by a novel honeycomb-patterned poly(lactide) film in a rat experimental model

• Published in: Journal of biomedical materials research. Part B, Applied biomaterials Vol. 86B; no. 2; pp. 353 - 359
• Main Authors: Fukuhira, Yukako, Ito, Masaya, Kaneko, Hiroaki, Sumi, Yoshihiko, Tanaka, Masaru, Yamamoto, Sadaaki, Shimomura, Masatsugu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.08.2008
• Subjects: Abdominal Wall; Adhesiveness; animal model; Animals; Male; Materials Testing; membrane; Models, Animal; PLA; Polyesters - therapeutic use; Postoperative Complications - prevention & control; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; surface modification; Surgical Mesh; tissue adhesion; Tissue Adhesions - prevention & control
• ISSN: 1552-4973; 1552-4981
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.b.31026

Intraperitoneal adhesion is a serious problem concerning abdominal surgery. This study evaluated the performance of a honeycomb‐patterned poly(lactide) (HCPLA) film as a physical barrier for preventing postoperative adhesion. HCPLA films were prepared using dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE) or a copolymer of dodecylacrylamide and ω‐carboxyhexylacrylamide (CAP) as a surfactant (HCPLA‐DOPE and HCPLA‐CAP, respectively). In an in vivo adhesion prevention experiment, male Sprague‐Dawley rats underwent standard cecum abrasion before midline laparotomy. We placed 2 cm × 2 cm HCPLA and flat films on the gliding interfaces; untreated rats formed the control group. After 1 week, adhesion was scored from 0 to 4. No significant difference was observed in the scores among groups, but macroscopic differences in adhesion prevention were observed. The adhesive strength of HCPLA‐DOPE (18.1 ± 1.2 g) to skinless chicken breast was significantly higher than that of the flat film (15.2 ± 0.8 g, p < 0.05). Further, the adhesion score after 1 week for the HCPLA‐DOPE group (1.6 ± 0.2) was significantly lower than that for the control group (3.0 ± 0.3, p < 0.05) but comparable to that for the Seprafilm™ group (1.4 ± 0.3). These results demonstrated the potential of HCPLA‐DOPE as a physical barrier for preventing postoperative adhesion. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 2008