Effects of different pulmonary surfactants in the prevention of postoperative intraabdominal adhesion formation ☆ Yavuz Yilmaz a, ⁎ , Istemi H. Celik b , Arzu Pampal c , Gamze Demirel b , Ferda Topal d , Serife S. Oguz b , Sibel S. Kilicoglu e , Ibrahim O. Ozen f , Ugur Dilmen g a Department of Pediatric Surgery, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Zekai Tahir Burak Maternity Teaching Hospital 06230 Cebeci, Ankara, Turkey b Department of Neonatology, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Zekai Tahir Burak Maternity Teaching Hospital 06230 Cebeci, Ankara, Turkey c Department of Pediatric Surgery, Ufuk University, Faculty of Medicine, 06520, Balgat, Ankara, Turkey d Department of Histology and Embryology, Ankara University, Faculty of Medicine, 06100 Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey e Department of Histology and Embryology, Ufuk University, Faculty of Medicine, 06520, Balgat, Ankara, Turkey f Department of Pediatric Surgery, Gazi University, Faculty of Medicine, 06500 Emek, Ankara, Turkey g Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Yildirim Beyazit University, Faculty of Medicine, 06800 Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey Received 29 September 2011; revised 20 January 2012; accepted 22 January 2012 Key words: Postoperative adhesion; Surface-active phospholipids; Pulmonary surfactant; Beractant; Poractant Abstract Background: After abdominal surgery, the formation of postoperative adhesion is a serious problem. The aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of 2 different pulmonary surfactants, poractant and beractant, on adhesion prevention in an experimental model. Materials and Methods: An experimental intraabdominal adhesion model was created in 18 adult female rats by cecal abrasion. The rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups. Group I received no further treatment, whereas groups II and III received intraperitoneal poractant and beractant, respectively, before closing the incision. On the 15th postoperative day, all rats underwent relaparotomy, intraabdominal adhesions were scored macroscopically according to Canbaz scoring system, and the cecum in each animal was evaluated microscopically. Results: The median adhesion scores of group II and III rats were significantly lower when compared with group I (P = .02). Group III had a lower median adhesion score than did group II, but this did not reach significance (P N .05). Conclusion: These observations suggest that intraperitoneal instillation of both pulmonary surfactants is associated with lower adhesion scores, higher adhesion-free cases, and improved histologic findings. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Postoperative adhesion formation is an important clinical problem after abdominal surgery [1]. Chronic abdominal pain, feeding intolerance, bowel obstruction, need for reoperative ☆ No financial assistance and funding were received to support this study. The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose. This study is an experimental study. ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +905333843149; fax: +90 312 309 47 02. E-mail address: dryavuzyilmaz@yahoo.com (Y. Yilmaz). www.elsevier.com/locate/jpedsurg 0022-3468/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2012.01.080 Journal of Pediatric Surgery (2012) 47, 1560–1565