Objective The Surgical and Clinical Adhesions Research (SCAR) and SCAR-2 studies demonstrated that the burden of adhesions following lower abdominal surgery is considerable and appears to remain unchanged despite advances in strategies to prevent adhesions. In this study, we assessed the adhesion-related readmission risk directly associated with common lower abdominal surgical procedures, taking into account the effect of previous surgery, demography and concomitant disease.Methods Data from the Scottish National Health Service medical record linkage database were used to assess the risk of an adhesion-related readmission following open lower abdominal surgery during April 1996-March 1997.Results Patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery (excluding appendicectomy) had a 5% risk of readmission directly related to adhesions in the 5 years following surgery. Appendicectomy was associated with a lower rate of readmission (0.9%), but contributed over 7% of the total lower abdominal surgery patient readmission burden. Panproctocolectomy (15.4%), total colectomy (8.8%) and ileostomy surgery (10.6%) were associated with the highest risk of an adhesion-related readmission. Overall, the risk of readmission was doubled in patients who had undergone abdominal or pelvic surgery within 5 years of the incident operation. A higher risk of readmission was also recorded in patients aged < 60 years compared with those aged ‡ 60 yrs. The effect of gender was assessed. However, as the surgical codes used were found to be skewed towards women, these data have not been reported. Readmission risk was slightly higher in patients with concomitant peritonitis compared with patients without peritonitis. In contrast, Crohn's disease had no effect on risk. Patients with colorectal cancer had a lower risk of adhesion formation. However, this may have been due to the type of surgery performed in this patient group. ConclusionThe identification of high-risk patient subgroups may assist in effectively targeting adhesionprevention strategies and the proffering of preoperative advice on adhesion risk.

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is commonly performed, and several factors increase the

OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility of conducting Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) in lower abdominal surgery to demonstrate a reduction in adhesion-related admissions following use of an adhesion reduction product, and to model the cost effectiveness of such products. METHODS: The number of patients in each limb of a RCT comparing an adhesion reduction product to a control has been estimated based on 25% and 50% reductions in adhesion-related readmissions one year after surgery, for P = 0.05 at a power of 80% and P=0.01 at a power of 90%. A cost effectiveness model based on the Surgical and Clinical Adhesions Research Group (SCAR) database has been developed which calculates the percentage reduction in readmissions required of an adhesion reduction product to return the cost of investment. It also estimates the cumulative costs of adhesion-related readmissions for lower abdominal surgery and the cost savings associated with an adhesion reduction policy using a low or high cost product. RESULTS: 7.2% of patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery will readmit due to adhesions in the first year after surgery. To demonstrate a 25% reduction in readmissions one year after surgery, it is calculated that a RCT would require between 5686 (P = 0.05, power=80%) and 7766 (P = 0.01, power = 90%) lower abdominal surgery patients followed-up for one year. A cost effectiveness analysis demonstrates that routine use of adhesion reduction products costing pound 50 per patient will payback the cost of such investment if they reduce adhesion-related readmissions by 16% after 3 years. A product costing pound 200 will need to offer a 64.1% reduction in readmissions after 3 years. For the estimated 158 000 lower abdominal surgery operations conducted in the UK each year, the cumulative costs of adhesion-related readmissions over 10 years are estimated at pound 569 Million. CONCLUSION: Demonstrating the clinical effectiveness of adhesion reduction products in the RCT setting is unlikely to be feasible due to the large number of patients required. Products costing pound 200 or more are unlikely to payback their direct costs.

Icodextrin 4% solution can be used in a wide range of surgical procedures. In combination with good surgical technique, it may play an important role in adhesion reduction.

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