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Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England logoLink to Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England
. 1994 Nov;76(6):412–415.

Experimental adhesion prophylaxis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator.

M N Vipond 1, S A Whawell 1, D M Scott-Coombes 1, J N Thompson 1, H A Dudley 1
PMCID: PMC2502270  PMID: 7702327

Abstract

The deposition of fibrin in the peritoneal cavity leads to fibrous adhesion formation. Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA), delivered locally, was investigated as a method of preventing adhesion formation. Six standardised areas of peritoneal ischaemia were formed in each of 36 male Wistar rats randomised to three intraperitoneal treatments: (A) no treatment control; (B) carboxymethylcellulose gel; (C) rtPA-carboxymethylcellulose gel combination. At 1 week all animals underwent relaparotomy and the number of ischaemic sites with an adhesion counted by an independent observer. rtPA-treated animals formed fewer adhesions compared with gel alone or controls (median number of adhesions 1.5 versus 2.5 versus 5, P < 0.001, ANOVA). Intraperitoneal rtPA in a slow-release formulation is able to reduce adhesion formation significantly in an animal model and may prove to have clinical benefit.

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Selected References

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