The laparotomy pad, the laundry and intestinal adhesions

Uncoated laparotomy pads and pads coated with Hydron were put through an ordinary laundry procedure. A long-chain quaternary detergent remained in the pads and was not removed in the final rinse. In addition, Hydron was found, as expected. Implications of the presence of detergent in the peritoneal cavity are considered.