Effects of peritoneal lavage with scolicidal agents on survival and adhesion formation in rats

Intraoperative irrigation of the peritoneal cavity with scolicidal agents is frequently recommended when dealing with traumatic or spontaneous rupture of hydatid cysts. The present experimental study was designed to examine the influence of various scolicidal agents on adhesion formation and survival. A total of 149 rats were randomly allocated to nine groups. Peritoneal lavage through a median laparotomy was performed with the following scolicidal agents. Group 1 (0.9% saline: controls), group 2 (20% hypertonic saline), group 3 (0.04% chlorhexidine gluconate), group 4 (3% hydrogen peroxide), group 5 (0.5% silver nitrate), group 6 (1% polyvinylpyrrolidone-iodine, or PVP-I ), group 7 (5% PVP-I), group 8 (0.5% cetrimide/0.05% chlorhexidine), and group 9 (10% PVP-I). The surviving animals were sacrificed on postoperative day 15. Adhesion formation was macroscopically graded by the Nair criteria. The severity of adhesion formation was evaluated microscopically using the fibrosing scoring criteria and the strain test. Group 9 (10% PVP-I) was excluded from the adhesion evaluation because all of the rats died in this group. The mortality rate was significantly higher in groups 5 and 7 than in groups 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8. Adhesion scores were significantly lower in groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 than in groups 5, 6, 7, and 8. The lowest adhesion score was found in group 3 and the highest in the group 7. These results indicate that 0.04% chlorhexidine gluconate, the most potent scolicidal agent in vitro and in vivo, was associated with the lowest adhesion formation and mortality among various scolicidal agents in this experimental study.