Title: Role of Blood and Fibrinogen in Development of Intraperitoneal Adhesions in Rats
Abstract: One hundred and twenty rats were divided into six groups and laparotomized. In three of the groups the cecum was left intact. In one of these groups the cecum was only lifted up through the abdominal incision and then replaced in the abdominal cavity. In another group the intact cecum was bathed with a certain amount of blood from the animal’s tail. In the third group the uninjured cecum was covered with fibrinogen in an amount equivalent to that in the blood used in the other group. In the remaining three groups the cecum was traumatized in a standardized way. In one of these groups the injured cecum was left untreated. In another group the traumatized cecum was bathed in homologous blood and in the third group the injured cecum was treated with fibrinogen as described above. Two weeks later the rats were killed and the number and quality of the intra-abdominal adhesions were studied. The findings in the present investigation indicate that neither blood nor fibrinogen per se induced adhesions to the serosa. On the contrary, a defect in the serosa initiated the formation of adhesions.