Role of aminophylline and allopurinol in the reformation of peritoneal adhesions

The role of aminophylline in the re-formation of peritoneal adhesions was considered in 23 rats. Since the adhesions were obtained, the animals were subsequently divided into three groups, the first one containing seven units, the others containing eight animals each. During the four days prior the surgery, allopurinol at the dose of 50 mg/kg/die was added to the regular ground laboratory chow in the animals of the second group; aminophylline at the dose of 40 mg/kg/die was administered four hours and immediately prior the surgery, to the animals of the third group. The adhesions that we observed, were graded and evaluated assigning them a score. At the moment of the lysis of adhesions, we observed the score of 2.71 +/- 1.11 in the first group, 3.12 +/- 1.13 in the second group, and 2.75 +/- 1.03 in the third one. Matching each group one another no statistically significant difference was found. At the end the experiment, we observed a score of 3.71 +/- 0.49 for the adhesions in the first group, 2 +/- 0.75 in the second group, and 3.87 +/- 0.35 in the third one. Matching these scores with those observed at the moment of their lysis, they appeared significantly higher in the animals of the first group (p less than 0.02) and of the third group (p less than 0.05), but they were lower in the second group (p less than 0.05). Such results indicate that the re-formation of peritoneal adhesions following their lysis is constant, that allopurinol decreases the intensity of the process, while aminophylline increases it.