Permacol provided a strong and durable repair for up to six months. Peri-Guard was equally strong but prone to infection and to skin ulceration. With time, Veritas and Alloderm lost tensile strength associated with marked thinning and with hernia-like bulging in the case of Alloderm.

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All of the tested prostheses attracted adhesions. Biologic prostheses had smaller areas of coverage compared to synthetic prostheses. Barrier surfaces on synthetic meshes were associated with a much lesser extent of adhesion involvement.

Vitamin E has previously been shown to provide radioprotection in animal models: increased survival after whole-body irradiation, diminished absorptive malfunction, and modest diminution in postirradiation hemolysis. The lumenal route for intestinal radioprotection has not been tested. MethodsRat mid-small bowel was surgically exteriorized and segmented by ties into compartments, each of which was filled with a test solution 30 minutes before 1 100 cGy of x-irradiation was administered. After the rats were killed 5 days later, the various segments were evaluated for surviving crypts, mucosal height, and goblet cell preservation. Lumenal agents included alphatocopherol phosphate and alpha-tocopherol acetate. In a separate study, dietary supplements of alpha-tocopherol were given for 10 days before irradiation, and the same irradiation sequence was carried out. ResultsSmall bowel crypt cell numbers, mucosal height, and goblet cell numbers were significantly protected from radiation effects by dietary alpha tocopherol pretreatment and by lumenal application of the vitamin. ConclusionsThese studies indicate that vitamin E can serve as a partial protectant against acute irradiation enteritis, whether given as chronic oral systemic pretreatment or as a brief topical application. 504Therapeutic irradiation regimens are designed to maximize tumoricidal effects while causing minimal damage to normal organs. Radiation to abdominal or pelvic malignancies unavoidably injures the intestine. Largely because of rapid cell turnover, the intestine is highly sensitive to radiation injury and is therefore the limiting factor in the permissible dosage for abdominal and pelvic irradiation. An early clinical consequence of intestinal