Reduced postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions using Carbylan-SX, a semisynthetic glycosaminoglycan hydrogel.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the efficacy of crosslinked Carbylan-SX (Carbylan BioSurgery, Inc., Palo Alto, CA) hydrogel films and sprayable gels as physical barriers in reducing postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions in the rat cecum-abdominal wall and rat uterine horn models.


METHODS
Pre-formed crosslinked Carbylan-SX films and sprayable in situ crosslinkable Carbylan-SX gels were evaluated in rat cecum-abdominal wall and rat uterine horn models and compared with commercially available and clinically used Seprafilm.


METHODS
University animal research facility.


METHODS
Female Wistar rats.


METHODS
Abrasions were made with the foot-pedal-operated Flex-shaft (Dremel, Racine, WI) on both the cecum and abdominal wall (each area 10 mm in diameter) in female rats as one model and on both uterine horns (3 x 10 mm) in female rats as the other model. In each of the two adhesion models, four groups were assigned with eight rats in each group: (1) untreated control, (2) treated with Seprafilm (Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, MA), (3) treated with preformed Carbylan-SX hydrogel films, and (4) treated with sprayable Carbylan-SX gel.


METHODS
Extent and severity of postoperative adhesions between the cecum and the abdominal wall in rat cecum-abdominal wall model and between the uterine horns in rat uterine horn model.


RESULTS
The Carbylan-SX film and the Carbylan-SX sprayable gel led to fewer adhesions than Seprafilm in both rat adhesion models. Interestingly, a single physical form was not optimal for both models: the Carbylan film was more efficacious in the rat uterine horn model, whereas Carbylan gel gave the best results in the rat cecum-abdominal wall model.


CONCLUSIONS
Both Carbylan-SX film and gel were efficacious in reducing postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion formation in rat cecum-abdominal wall and uterine horn models.
Liu
Yanchun
Y
Department of Medicinal Chemistry, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84108-1257, USA.
Shu
Xiao Zheng
XZ
Prestwich
Glenn D
GD
D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery*; D034861:Abdominal Wall; D000818:Animals; D002429:Cecal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005780:Gelatin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D000267:Tissue Adhesions / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014591:Uterine Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D014599:Uterus / Q000601:surgery
C118198:Seprafilm; C513409:carbylan-GSX; D005780:Gelatin; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid