PERSPECTIVE Prevention of adhesions in gynaecological surgery: the 2012 European field guideline

Abstract Postoperative adhesions have become the most common complication of open or laparoscopic abdominal surgery and a source of major concern because of their potentially dramatic consequences. The proposed guideline is the beginning of a major campaign to enhance the aware-ness of adhesions and to provide surgeons with a reference guide to adhesion prevention adapted to the conditions of their daily practice. The risk of postoperative adhesions should be systematically discussed with any patient scheduled for open or laparoscopic abdominal surgery prior to obtaining her informed consent. Surgeons should adopt a routine adhesion reduction strategy with good surgical technique. Anti-adhesion agents are an additional option, especially in proce-dures with a high risk of adhesion formation, such as ovarian, endometriosis and tubal surgery and myomectomy. We con-clude that good surgical practice is paramount to reduce adhesion formation and that anti-adhesion agents may con-tribute to adhesion prevention in certain cases.