Novel Treatment for the Prevention of Secondary Adhesions

Abstract

Adhesion formation following surgical procedures poses a major clinical challenge, often leading to chronic pain, increased hospital readmissions, and substantial healthcare costs exceeding a billion dollars annually. Despite advancements in surgical techniques, minimally invasive approaches, and barrier methods, there is a lack of targeted research on preventing secondary adhesions after adhesiolysis. This study aims to bridge this gap in the literature by exploring novel treatment options. In our earlier research, alanyl-glutamine was shown to effectively prevent primary adhesions in a rat model involving polypropylene-type meshes, which are typically associated with severe adhesions despite their suitability for hernia repair. Building on these findings, we extended our investigation to determine if this treatment could also prevent secondary adhesions post-adhesiolysis. In this study, adhesions were induced in Wistar rats, followed by adhesiolysis and subsequent treatment with alanyl-glutamine. Six weeks posttreatment, the extent of adhesion formation was evaluated, revealing no adhesion formation. Our results demonstrate that alanyl-glutamine effectively prevents both primary and secondary adhesions in a rat model, highlighting its potential as a promising intervention to mitigate the adverse effects and complications associated with surgical adhesions.