Bowel resection or repair at the time of cytoreductive surgery for ovarian malignancy is associated with increased complication rate: An ACS-NSQIP study.

OBJECTIVES: Bowel procedures are commonly performed as part of ovarian cancer cytoreduction. The aim of this study was to assess the postoperative complication rates among women with an ovarian malignancy undergoing bowel resection/repair at the time of cytoreductive surgery compared with a control group (cytoreductive surgery without bowel resection or repair). METHODS: Analysis of 4965 cytoreductive surgeries for suspected ovarian malignancies recorded in the American College of Surgeons' National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) datasets (2006-2017) was performed. One-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis H and Chi-squared tests were used to evaluate and compare baseline characteristics between the groups and controls. Postoperative surgical site infection rates and other 30-day post-operative outcomes were assessed with multivariable logistic and linear regressions. RESULTS: 8.3% (413/4965) of cytoreductive procedures had an associated repair of enterotomy (small or large bowel), 10.9% (541/4947) had an associated colectomy with primary anastomosis, and 2.1% (104/4965) had an associated colectomy with colostomy. Surgical site infections (SSI, either superficial incisional, deep incisional, organ space or wound dehiscence) were significantly more prevalent in the bowel resection/repair group (16.9% vs 5.7%, p < 0.0001). The odds of surgical infections were 2.67 times higher in patients who underwent a bowel resection or repair after controlling for age, BMI, ASA status, pre-operative weight loss, hypoalbuminemia, NSQIP morbidity score, length and complexity of surgical procedure. CONCLUSION: Patients undergoing bowel resection/repair at the time of cytoreductive surgery are at increased risk of surgical site infections, without increased risk of 30-day mortality. Interventions to mitigate the risk of infectious complications in these patients should be evaluated in a prospective fashion.