Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess vitamin E solution on the prophylaxis of intraperitoneal adhesions in ovine uterine serosal damage model with bipolar diathermy. Therefore, 19 ewes underwent laparotomy for induction of adhesions, using a uterine serosal bipolar electrocauterization model. Cauterizations were performed on the right uterine horn serosa and right ovary. Ewes were randomly divided into three groups: control group (GCT, n=5), with no treatment following electrocoagulation, another group using local rinse of 20 mL of normal saline (GNS, n=8), and the last group using local rinse of 20 mL of vitamin E injection solution (GVE, n=6). On day 21 postoperative, animals underwent laparoscopy for scoring and comparison of intraperitoneal adhesion according to frequency and number. The number of adhesions was compared among groups using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn’s post-hoc test. As results, the bipolar uterine serosal coagulation model triggered uterine adhesions in 74% (14/19) of the animals. Frequency of postoperative intraperitoneal adhesions was similar (P= 0.819) among groups (80% ewes of GCT, 62.5% of GNS and 83% of GVE). There was no significant difference between treatment groups, however, number of adhesions was lower in GVE and GNS groups than in control group (P= 0.032), showing that the addition of these kind of substances are better than not using any type of barrier to prevent the formation of intraperitoneal adhesions.