effect of melatonin in the prevention of post-operative adhesion formation in an experimental study

post operative adhesion formation is a very important clinical problem because of its complications such as pain, bowel obstruction, infertility and subsequent intra-operative complications. we aimed to investigate the effects of melatonin (me), as an agent acting against free radicals, on the prevention of adhesion formation. background: a number of 39 rats were randomly assigned into three groups of equal number. serosal injury was created using a standard technique, one group received a single dose of intraperitoneal (ip) me immediately after injury; a single dose of subcutaneous (sc) me was given to the second group 30 minutes prior to surgery; but the control group did not received me. all animals were re-operated 2 weeks after the surgery and the adhesion scores were determined by an examiner blinded to the under experiment groups. methods: the total score of adhesion reduced significantly in ip and sc groups in comparison to controls (p