The effect of natural surfactants on the development of postoperative intraabdominal adhesion

The development of postoperative adhesion after abdominal surgery is sometimes a severe problem. Our study investigates the effectiveness of exogenous surfactant application in preventing adhesion development in the experimental adhesion model.

This randomized-controlled interventional study was carried out in the animal laboratory of Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University between March 1 and March 31, 2020. An experimental intra-abdominal adhesion model was established in 24 adult female rats by cecal abrasion. Rats were randomly divided into four groups. Groups I, II, and III were taken intraperitoneally as beractant, poractant, and calfactant applied groups, respectively. Group IV was the control group. Relaparotomy was performed in all groups on the 15th postoperative day, and intra-abdominal adhesions were scored macroscopically according to the Canbaz scoring system. In addition, the cecal regions were evaluated microscopically and scored according to the Zühlke microscopic classification system. The scores of the groups were compared statistically.

The Zühlke adhesion development score was significantly lower in the exogenous surfactant applied groups. In addition, when the surfactant-applied groups were compared among themselves, it was seen that the adhesion score in the beractant group was significantly better than the other surfactant types (p < 0.01).

Our study results showed that prophylactic intraperitoneal surfactant application significantly reduced postoperative adhesion development, particularly beractant.