• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.230-235
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• 2006

This study was performed in rats to find the minimum dose of melatonin that can effectively prevent the formation of postoperative intraperitoneal adhesions. Forty-two Sprague Dawley male rats were divided into six groups consisting of 7 rats, respectively. After celiotomy, five abrasions of $0.5{\times}1cm$ area were made on the antimesenteric serosal surface of the colon with a scalpel blade. The abdominal cavity was filled with 1 ml of solution containing 1 mg/kg(Mel 1), 3 mg/kg(Mel 3), 10 mg/kg(Mel 10), 30 mg/kg(Mel 30) and 5% ethanol solution(sham) through the catheter, using a sterile syringe before abdominal closure. Control group was given no adjuvant. The locations and values of adhesion were assessed through the second operation on the 14th day after the first operation. The adhesions were located on serosa to mesentery(54 of 210, 25.7%), serosa to serosa(44 of 210, 21%), serosa to omentum (12 of 210, 5.7%) and serosa to parietal peritoneum(0 of 210, 0%). The incidences of adhesion in Control, Sham, Mel 1, Mel 3, Mel 10 and Mel 30 were 68.6%, 91.4%, 57.1%, 60.1%, 17.1% and 20%, respectively. The values of adhesion separation in Mel 10 and Mel 30 group were lower than those in other groups. However, there was no significant(p<0.05) between Mel 10 and Mel 30 group. This study showed that 10 mg/kg of melatonin were effective in reducing the intraperitoneal adhesion.