Use of polylactic acid/polytrimethylene carbonate blends membrane to prevent postoperative adhesions.

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of a novel biodegradable membrane on the prevention of postoperative adhesion formation. The membrane was prepared by blending 50% PLA (polylactic acid) with 50% PTMC (polytrimethylene carbonate). The prepared blends polymer membrane was more flexible than pure PLA membrane, as measured by glass-transition temperature and tensile study. Cytotoxicity study revealed that PLA/PTMC blends membrane showed good biocompatibility. The membrane elicited slight tissue reaction based on the results of histological study. Thirty adult Japanese rabbits were used for the intestine adhesion model. The treatment group had PLA/PTMC membrane, the control group had chitosan, and the blank control group was not operated. The animals were housed for two weeks and sacrificed to investigate adhesion of intestine. Compared with the blank control group, the treatment group and the control group lowered the extent of adhesions (p < 0.01), but the treatment group was better than the control group (p < 0.05). The in-vivo studies confirmed that PLA/PTMC blends membrane could prevent postoperative adhesions. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.