Objective:

Intraperitoneal adhesions have a clinical impact on patient’s health. Thus, we aimed to confi rm whether the application of carboxymethylcellulose/hyaluronic acid (GUARDIX) on intraperitoneal meshes can reduce or prevent the formation of adhesions.

Material and methods:

26 male rats, in two groups of 13, were used as control group A and treatment group B. In both groups a heavy-weight polypropylene mesh was placed in an intraperitoneal position. In Group A, saline was applied on the mesh and into the abdominal cavity, in Group B, Guardix (hyaluronic acid and carboxymethylcellulose) was applied on the mesh and into the abdominal cavity. At Day 30 the rats were reoperated on to verify the characteristics of adhesions and mesh status.

Results:

The result was significant at a p-value = 0.03. Based on the mean difference, a Fisher’s test was used; we found a value of 0.026 for the experimental group for the average of adhesion formation. We found a significant decrease in the extent and severity of adhesions in the Guardix group compared to control rats.

Conclusion:

The application of Guardix effectively decreased adhesion formation despite the presence of a heavy-weight intraperitoneal polypropylene mesh. These findings have an important clinical application. There is still a question to be answered: whether it is enough that only meshes have anti-adherence material, or there is a need to add an extra layer on intraabdominal viscera.