Significance of Intraabdominal Adhesions in Emergency Laparotomies: Effect of Prior Laparotomies

Intraabdominal adhesion formation after abdominal surgery is still a surgical dilemma. It‟s seen in more than 50% of abdominal surgeries and has a potential of complicating future abdominal surgical interventions. In this retrospective study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalance and severity of intraabdominal adhesions in emergency laparotomies patients operated before. One hundred and one patients who underwent emergency relaparotomy in Department of Surgery of Kırıkkale University Medical Faculty between January 2002-April 2013 were enrolled in the study. The severity of intraabdominal adhesions were evaluated using Zühlke classification. The overall adhesion ratio for this study group was found to be 96%. Medical and medicolegal consequences of intraabdominal adhesions in relaparotomies are of paramount importance. The first and most important approach to minimize this problem is to be aware of this problem. During the inital laparotomy whatever possible should be done to prevent intraabdominal adhesions formation.