Starch and intraperitoneal adhesion formation

Abstract

A series of experiments on surgical gloves, an animal model, and human biopsies is reported. These studies demonstrate that contamination of the peritoneal cavity is inevitable when starch-precoated gloves are used, and that small doses of starch contamination may be responsible for human intraperitoneal adhesion formation. Previous publications are reviewed regarding the harmful effects of starch in humans.