Efficacy of hyaluronic acid/nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug systems in preventing postsurgical tendon adhesions

Tendon adhesion is acknowledged to be a function of both an overwhelming inflammatory response at the surgical site and the loss of physical separation that is normally present between the tendons and the synovial sheath. Adhesions bind the flexor tendons to each other and to surrounding structures, interfering with their normal gliding function. The clinical result of adhesion formation following flexor tendon surgery is poor digital function. This study investigated the effect of intraoperative treatments of high viscosity absorbable gels made of various combinations of hyaluronic acid and nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs, on adhesion formation in a leghorn chicken flexor tendon model. Forty‐eight mature, white leghorn chickens were used to verify the surgical model and to test five different gel treatments. The gels were formed from: 2% sodium hyaluronate in phosphate buffered saline alone or combined with 1 mg/mL tolmetin sodium; 1 mg/mL naproxen sodium; 0.216 g/mL calcium acetate; or 0.216 g/mL calcium acetate plus 1 mg/mL naproxen sodium. The gels were applied by injecting 0.2 mL of the specified composition into the intrasheath space near the conclusion of the surgical procedure. Gross and histological evaluations were conducted to analyze the efficacy. All of the treatments significant reduced the extent and severity of postsurgical tendon adhesion in this animal model as compared with the control (no gel treatment) (p < 0.05). The combination of naproxen sodium and calcium acetate in a high viscosity sodium hyaluronate carrier was the most effective composition. The combination of a high viscosity gel and nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs appears to maintain the natural separation between the tendons and their sheaths and decrease the tissue inflammatory response through mediating two of the major stimuli in adhesion formation. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res (Appl Biomater) 38: 25–33, 1997