Regeneration of serous membrane on gelatin-processed polyglycolic acid (PGA)-human collagen membrane and its efficacy on the prevention of adhesion.

We prepared a complex membrane consisting of human amnion-derived collagen membrane and polyglycolic acid (PGA), and then gelatin was crosslinked using heat on one side of the complex membrane to prepare a membrane that can prevent adhesion (gelatin-processed PGA-human collagen membrane). Applying this membrane to a rabbit cecum-abdominal-wall-adhesion model, the prevention of adhesion and tissue regeneration were investigated. The animals were sacrificed 2 and 12 weeks after surgery and then examined. The adhesion scores in the short-term observation group (2 weeks after surgery) an long-term observation group (12 weeks after surgery) were 1.0 +/- 2.4 and 0.8 +/- 2.0, respectively, showing a significant prevention of adhesion compared to the control value of 6.3 +/- 2.5 (p < 0.01). Histologically, gelatin was not absorbed, and outgrowth of connective tissue accompanied by capillary blood vessels was observed between the sample and the cecum in the short-term observation group. In the long-term observation group, the sample was completely absorbed, and serous membrane was regenerated on the surface of connective tissue. Based on these findings, it is possible to use gelatin-processed PGA-human collagen membrane as a filling material with both an adhesion-preventing effect and tissue-regenerating function. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.