The possible advantage of keeping the uterine and intestinal serosa irrigated with saline to prevent intraabdominal adhesions in operations for fertility. An experimental study in rats.

In an attempt to find out whether a constant irrigation of the abdominal cavity with saline, as advocated in operations for fertility, is an adjuvant in the prevention of postoperative adhesions or not an experimental study was performed in 52 rats. The influence of a constant drying and irrigation with saline, respectively, on the exudation of an intact and of an injured serosa of the uterus and of the caecum was assessed after intravenous administration of fluoreisothiocyanate-dextran (FITC-dextran) in 12 rats. The influence of constant drying and constant irrigation with saline, respectively, on the postoperative adhesion formation on an intact and on an injured serosa was evaluated in all 52 animals. The results of this study imply that there was no significant difference in exudation of the intact serosa of the uterus and the caecum irrespective of constant drying or irrigation with saline. Subsequent to a certain trauma, however, the exudation increased with approximately 80 per cent in the uterus and 70 percent in the caecum. Moreover, constant irrigation of the abdominal serosa did not inhibit the increase of the exudation. The adhesion formation on the injured and intact abdominal serosa, respectively, was furthermore not influenced by irrigation with saline or drying, but seemed solely associated with a trauma to the serosa.