CONTROLLED COMPARISON OF INTERCEED AND AMNIOTIC MEMBRANE GRAFT IN THE PREVENTION OF POSTOPERATIVE ADHESIONS IN THE RABBIT UTERINE HORN MODEL

Objective: To evaluate the effects of Interceed TC7 (Johnson and Johnson Medical, New Brunswick, NJ) and gamma-irradiated human amniotic membrane graft in prevention of postoperative adhesions in the rabbit uterine horn model. Setting: A conventional animal laboratory. Subjects. Virgin, female New Zealand white rabbits. Interventions. Both uterine horns were subjected to clean transverse cuts 1 cm apart at the antimesentric border. The left uterine horn was left uncovered in each case to act as a control. The right uterine horn was randomly covered with either Interceed TC7 or human amniotic membrane. Outcome measures. Adhesion score was evaluated 4 weeks after the initial surgery. Samples of each uterine horn were collected for histopathological studies, and subserosal inflammatory score. Results. Interceed resulted in higher adhesion scores and subserosal inflammation score than the control side (P = 0.03 and 0.05, respectively). A similar difference was found for amniotic membrane when compared with the uncovered control side (P = < 0.01 and 0.01, respectively). Conclusion: Interceed TC7 failed to have the preventive effect on adhesion formation it is claimed to possess. Amniotic membrane performed poorly too. Therefore, gentle tissue handling, irrigation and good surgical skills remain the most important prerequisite for adhesion prevention.