The intraperitoneal use of rifamycin s.v. and its influence in postoperative peritoneal adhesions occurrence was analysed in a ninety male rats experimental study. The control group was formed by 45 animals subjected to laparotomy and instillation of 2mL of saline solution with rhythmic digital movements in the four quadrants of the peritoneal cavity for 2 minutes. After this procedure, the remaining saline solution was aspirated with a syringe, followed by immediate laparorrhaphy. The experiment group (n=45) was submitted to a similar procedure with instillation of a solution of rifamycin s.v. 500mg diluted in 500mL of a saline vehicle, according to the same movement used in the control group. The animals of both control and experiment groups were distributed in three subgroups with equal number (n=15), according to the euthanasia period, which was 7, 14 and 21 days postoperative. Peritoneal adhesions were quantified in the euthanasia periods, using a method described by MORENO-EGEA, AGUAYO, ZAMBUDIO and PARRILLA (1993). The experiment group presented a rate of adhesion significantly high as compared to the control group in all subgroups. This difference was higher in animals with an euthanasia period of 21 days.
Peritoneal adhesions; Rifamycin; Wistar rats
