A comparative study of preventing postoperative tendon adhesion using electrospun polyester membranes with different degradation kinetics

Complications arising from tendon injury include tendon sheath infection and peritendinous adhesion, in which tendon adhe- sion often leads to serious motor dysfunction. In this work, the electrospun membranes of poly（L-lactide） （PLA） and poly（ε-caprolactone） （PCL） with different degradation kinetics were used to investigate their efficacy for anti-adhesion toward Achilles tendon repair. Compared with the PCL membrane, the PLA sample showed a faster rate of degradation in 42 d, and all the degradation media （i.e., phosphate-buffered saline） maintained at a constant pH of around 7.4. Meanwhile, the superior biocompatibility of both the PLA and PCL membranes were proved by the in vitro cellular adhesion tests and in vivo histo- pathological assays. Simultaneously, the PLA membrane was more effective than the PCL sample in decreasing adhesion and promoting functional recovery. Furthermore, the experiment result was further confirmed by hematoxylin-eosin and Masson＇s trichrome staining, and type I collagen immunohistochemical analysis. All results revealed that the model treated with the electrospun PLA membrane was obviously better with regard to both anti-adhesion and tendon repair than that in the PCL mem- brane group. Considering the results of degradation and adhesion prevention efficacy, the electrospun polyester membranes, especially the PLA one, would be applied with fascinating potential in clinical prevention of postoperative tendon adhesion.