The influence of suturing and sepsis on the development of postoperative peritoneal adhesions

Postoperative peritoneal adhesions are a major cause of morbidity. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential contributions of suturing and sepsis to their formation in animals undergoing laparotomy. Suturing the peritoneum with plain catgut was associated with a high incidence of adhesions to the wound at 8 days (11/15), but this was significantly less at 25 days (5/15, P less than 0.04). Use of monofilament nylon, or non-suture, were each associated with a low incidence of adhesions. Wound strength was significantly greater at 25 days than at 8 days (P less than 0.0005), but did not differ between groups. In a separate experiment, bacterial infection, even in the absence of a particulate carrier, proved to be a potent cause of postoperative peritoneal adhesions (8/9, P = 0.02) compared with uninfected controls (3/10). Suturing the peritoneum in the presence of infection caused an especially high incidence of adhesions to the wound (8/9, P = 0.004 vs 2/10 unsutured). It is concluded that the lowest incidence of adhesions to the wound is likely to be obtained, both in uninfected and in infected cases, if the peritoneum is not sutured during closure of abdominal wounds, and that such an approach does not compromise wound strength.