Effect of intraabdominal administration of Allium sativum (garlic) oil on postoperative peritoneal adhesion.

Objective(s): Peritoneal adhesion is a serious problem that develops after most abdominopelvic surgeries. Allium sativum (garlic) has been used for centuries as both a nutrient and a traditional medicine. The anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, fibrinolytic, and wound-healing properties of garlic are well-recognized. We evaluated the effect of garlic on formation of postoperative adhesions in rats.

Study Design: Thirty Wistar-Albino female rats weighing 200-250 g were randomly divided into three groups (10 rats/group). Group 1 rats received 5 ml/kg garlic oil intraperitoneally and no surgery was performed. The ceca of Group 2 rats (controls) were scraped, to trigger adhesion formation, and no treatment was given. In Group 3 rats, 5 ml/kg garlic oil was added to the peritoneal cavity immediately after the cecum was scraped. All animals were sacrificed 10 d after surgery and adhesions graded in terms of severity and histopathologic characteristics.

Results: All animals tolerated the operations well. No adhesions were evident upon laparotomy of Group 1 animals. In Group 2 three rats had an adhesion grade 2 and seven rats had an adhesion of grade 3, whereas in Group 3 no adhesions were found in four rats, five rats had an adhesion grade of 1. Only one rat had a grade 2 adhesion. Macroscopic adhesions and mean adhesion scores of Group 3 were significantly lower than Group 2 (p<0.001). Histopathologic evaluation of the specimens also revealed a statistically significant differences in inflammation, fibrosis, and neovascularization scores between Group 2 and 3 (p=0.001, p=0.001, and p=0.011, respectively). Inflammation, fibrosis and vascularization scores in Group 3 were found significantly lower than Group 2.

Conclusion: The anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, fibrinolytic, antithrombotic, and wound-healing effects of garlic likely prevent formation of peritoneal adhesions in a rat model, and garlic may be effective and cheap when used to prevent such adhesions in humans.