A randomized clinical trial of oxidized regenerated cellulose adhesion barrier (Interceed, TC7)* alone or in combination with heparin

Objective: To compare the efficacy of heparin-saturated oxidized regenerated cellulose absorbable adhesion barrier, Interceed (TC7; Johnson and Johnson Medical Inc., New Brunswick, NJ) to oxidized regenerated cellulose alone for the prevention of postoperative adhesions. Design: Clinical trial. By random assignment, one ovary was wrapped in oxidized regenerated cellulose, and the contralateral ovary was wrapped in oxidized regenerated cellulose saturated with a heparin solution (1,000 U/mL). Patient(s): Forty women with defects on both ovaries due to adhesiolysis and/or ovarian cystectomy. Main Outcome Measure: Adhesion formation and raw ovarian surface area were assessed at second-look laparoscopy 10 days to 16 weeks later. Result(s): At the second-look laparoscopy, adhesions were present on 52.5% (21/40) of the ovaries treated with oxidized regenerated cellulose plus heparin and in 65% (26/40) of the contralateral ovaries treated with oxidized regenerated cellulose alone. For ovaries treated with oxidized regenerated cellulose plus heparin, the raw surface area was reduced from 9.41 +/- 1.27 cm(2) (mean +/- SE) at laparotomy to 1.33 +/- 0.52 cm(2) at second-look laparoscopy. The corresponding figures for ovaries treated with oxidized regenerated cellulose alone were from 10.24 +/- 1.08 to 1.92 +/- 0.54 cm(2), respectively. The mean difference between the reductions in raw surface area (85.9% for oxidized regenerated cellulose plus heparin; 81.3% for oxidized regenerated cellulose alone) was not significantly different from zero (difference = -0.24 cm(2); 95% confidence interval = -2.56 to 3.04). Conclusion(s): Adding heparin did not enhance significantly the adhesion-reducing capacity of oxidized regenerated cellulose adhesion barrier when applied to ovarian surfaces after cystectomy and/or ovariolysis at laparotomy. This conclusion is subject to the possibility of a type II error.