The effect of ionized collagen for preventing postoperative adhesion

Collagen exhibits ideal multifactorial action for preventing tissue adhesions. This study examined the efficacy of ionized collagen in preventing tissue adhesion after surgical procedures.

Ionized collagen was prepared using the esterification technique of natural collagen. Three forms of collagen materials (membrane, film, and gel) were compared with three commercialized materials (oxidized regenerated cellulose membrane [OC membrane], hyaluronic acid and carboxymethylcellulose film, and gel [HC film and HC gel]) in a rat cecum abrasion model. Antiadhesive activity and histologic findings were assessed.

The incidence of adhesion was reduced significantly in all test groups compared to the sham-operated control group (100% in control, 14.3% in collagen membrane, 63.6% in collagen film, 25.0% in collagen gel, 55.6% in OC membrane, 75% in HC film, and 83.3% in HC gel). All collagen materials of the three forms exhibited a significant reduction in adhesion grade compared with the sham operation, whereas no significant difference was found among these three different forms. The collagen membrane showed significantly less adhesion grade, less inflammation and more regenerative features compared to widely used conventional materials.

This preclinical investigation indicated that ionized collagen materials readily formed clinically suitable shapes for easy handling without the need for any complex processing and effectively reduced postoperative tissue adhesion profiles compared to conventional antiadhesive agents.