The effects of different methods of repair of the parietal peritoneum on the activity of plasminogen activator are studied on experimental models of adhesions. A high correlation is shown between the degree of suppression of the activity of plasminogen activator and the incidence and severity of postoperative adhesions depending on the method of repair of the peritoneum and the type of suture material.
Key Words: adhesion process; tissue fibrinolytic activity; catgut; prolene; fibrin glueDuring the normal course of repair regeneration of the peritoneum, plasminogen turns into plasmin under the effect of plasminogen activator (PA) and dissolves the fibrinoid adhesions between abdominal organs soon after surgery [4,5,[9][10][11][12]. Hence, the fibrinolytic activity of tissue plasmin depends on the activity of PA, which is present in the mesothelial tissues and in the walls of submesothelial vessels and is released during injury or under the influence of other factors [1,11,12]. A relationship between the suppression of PA activity and an increased incidence of postoperative adhesions has been demonstrated on different experimental models [4,5,11,12]. Buckman et al. [5] consider that the absence of prolonged local fibrinolysis is a universal pathophysiological mechanism underlying the formation of postoperative adhesions induced by various types of damage to the peritoneum.In this study we tried to find a relationship between methods of repair of the parietal peritoneum (PP), types of suture material, and the incidence and
MATERIALS AND METHODSA total of 160 experiments were carried out on 80 adult Wistar rats weighing 180 to 200 g (4 groups, 20 animals in each). All the animals were subjected to surgery in order to induce an adhesion process in the abdominal cavity. The operations were carried out under general anesthesia by intramuscular hexenal in a dose of 100 mg/kg. The abdominal cavity was opened by a median incision, after which the lateral abdominal wall was held to the side with a special device in order to expose the PP. A 1• flap of PP was excised from both sides of the anterior abdominal wall. In the first group 10 loop sutures were made with catgut 4/0, in the second with prolene 4/0, in the third the wound was not closed (control), and in the fourth the wound surface was covered with fibrin glue after a previously described method [3]. The anterior abdominal wall was sutured layer-by-layer with continuous sutures: with catgut in group 1 and with prolene in groups 2, 3, and 4.