Adhesion Control

Post-surgical adhesions are bands of scar tissue connecting anatomic sites in the body that should not normally be connected.

These develop after almost any type of surgery. Incidence can be as high as 90% and lead to a re-admission rate of up to 20% for certain surgical procedures. Adhesions can cause severe symptoms such as restricted joint mobility, chronic pain, intestinal obstruction and infertility.

Adhesions are a major cause for concern within healthcare systems. Re-admissions, intra-operative complications and prolonged surgery time are a major burden for surgeons and create enormous costs for healthcare systems.

Major opportunity for new, effective treatments

In the US and EU alone, some 8 million procedures each year could benefit from adhesion-prevention products. However, none of the products currently available are able to meet the efficacy levels demanded by surgeons.

Today, the only approved treatments for the prevention of adhesions are based on mechanical barriers between injured tissue surfaces. In addition to unsatisfactory clinical efficacy, many are also hampered by side-effects, require complicated application and/or are limited in use due to their physical characteristics.

Post-surgical adhesion formation remains an area of significant unmet medical needs. There is urgent demand for safe, easy-to-use products that are able to provide greater clinical benefit.