Experimental study on the role of mast cells in peritoneal adhesion formation.

Objective: To investigate the potential role of mast cell stabilisation in the prevention of post-operative adhesions. Design: Laboratory animal experiment. Setting: University hospital, Turkey. Subjects: Ninety Wistar albino rats. Intervention: Under anaesthesia, a lower midline laparotomy was performed, the caecum exposed and grasped until haemorrhage occurred. The rats were divided into three groups. Group 1, 2 and 3 were intra-peritoneally administered 1 ml of saline, disodium cromoglycate 5mg/kg in 1 ml of saline and 10mg/kg in 1 ml of saline, respectively thirty minutes prior to laparotomy and immediately subsequent to abdominal closure. They were later sacrificed, laparotomy repeated and the presence and extent of intra-abdominal adhesions evaluated. Results: Adhesion scores were best in the high disodium cromoglycate dose group of rats (p<0.05) and the number of degranulated mast cells was significantly low in this group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Disodium cromoglycate may be an effective agent for attenuating adhesion formation when administered in suitable doses.