Surgical Adhesions: A Serious Problem with No Clear Solution; Survey of surgeons reveals the extent of the adhesions problem and dissatisfaction with current treatments.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

DUNDEE, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 2003

The majority of surgeons practising in the United Kingdom view surgical adhesions as a major problem and one that they encounter frequently; however, they do not regularly use any of the anti-adhesions products available due to lack of adequate efficacy data, according to a survey presented at the VIth Annual Symposium on Peritoneum in Amsterdam on April 12.

The survey, conducted by researchers at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, investigated the views of UK surgeons on surgical adhesions and anti-adhesions products. Of the 725 surgeons responding to the survey, 62 percent considered adhesions to be a significant problem in their practice. However, when asked about the use of anti-adhesions products and their efficacy, only 29 percent of surgeons said that they think the products currently available are useful, with the majority of surgeons (61 percent) responding that they never use anti-adhesions products.

Surgical adhesions occur when there is damage to the delicate surface coating of tissues during surgery, which can cause abnormal scar tissue to grow and connect tissues and organs that are not normally connected. Surgical adhesions can occur after any surgery, but they most commonly form and cause problems following abdominal and gynaecological procedures. The problems associated with adhesions include severe pain, infertility, and bowel obstructions. Adhesions can only be diagnosed and treated with further surgery, and they re-grow in 80 percent of cases after lysis.

"While surgical adhesions have often been regarded as a relatively insignificant problem by the mainstream medical community, it is clear from our research that surgeons in the UK have identified this condition as a frequent and serious threat to patients," said Mr. Sami Shimi, Senior Lecturer and Consultant Surgeon in the Department of Surgery and Molecular Oncology at Ninewells Hospital. "It is particularly troubling that surgeons do not have confidence in the current treatments available for surgical adhesions. The implications of this distrust are serious: there is a clear need for better treatments and for more education about preventative options."

Other findings of the survey include:

-- Of those surgeons who felt adhesions were a problem, 83

percent reported to have had more than 5 patients admitted

into hospitals in the past year, while 48 percent of them had

more than 10 patients admitted into hospitals with

adhesion-related obstructions in the past year.

-- According to the surgeons, colorectal surgery has the highest

potential for producing adhesion-related problems followed by

gynaecological surgery, with laparoscopic surgical procedures

ranking as having the lowest potential.

-- 81 percent of colorectal surgeons considered adhesions to be a

significant problem in their practice - the highest of any

sub-specialty - compared to 62 percent overall.

"Because adhesions can be very difficult to diagnose and there is little knowledge of them among the general public, many people are unaware that they are even at risk of this devastating and painful condition," said Max Noble, Managing Director of Britannia Pharmaceuticals, one of the sponsors of the survey. "The level of dissatisfaction seen with existing anti-adhesion products that has been identified in this survey indicates a significant need for a new approach to the serious problem of surgical adhesions."