Abstract

Purpose: Our goal with this experiment was to determine the influence of selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD) on peritoneal fibrinolytic activity in rats. Materials and Methods: Animals were divided into five groups. Group 1 was subjected to SDDtreated peritoneal adhesion. Group 2 was subjected only to perioneal adhesion. Group 3 was SDD-treated, whereas Group 4 was labeled as the control group. Group 5 was subjected to simple laparotomy. The rats in Group 1 and Group 3 were given SDD (tobramycin 20 mg/l and polymyxin E 25 mg/l) by gavage twice daily for 3 days preceding surgical operation. Control groups were fed orally with standard chow. After a 72-hour waiting period following the operation, biopsies of undamaged parietal peritoneum were obtained from the fibrinolytic parameters in order to measure tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1). Results: Average tPA levels were low in both the sdd-treated group and the sdd+adhesion model group, however no statistical significance was elicited. PAI-1 levels were higher in sddtreated groups than in other groups, but no significantly meaningful difference was obtained. Conclusion: These results suggest that pretreatment with sdd reduces the peritoneal fibrinolytic activity and might also enhance the peritoneal adhesion formation in rats.