The authors analyze the adhesion-forming capacity of various forms of treating a peritoneal lesion. There were four groups each of 10 rats, all receiving the same peritoneal lesion. The control group did not receive any treatment for this injury; in the remaining three, the peritoneal lesion was treated with electrocoagulation, stapling or interrupted suture. The animals were killed after 30 days and adhesions quantified according to a specially designed score which assessed the number of adhesions, their site, vascularization, thickness and tenacity. Electrocoagulation significantly generated the smallest number of adhesions. The application of stapling or suture stimulated the formation of adhesions to a larger extent, manual suture more so than the stapling.