Use of Pulsed Lavage Reduces the Rate of Surgical Site Infection After Laparotomy.

INTRODUCTION: Surgical site infections (SSI) are a preventable and common post-operative complication within general surgery. Intra-operative irrigation of surgical incisions is an inexpensive method to reduce post-operative SSI rates, however its use is predominantly limited to orthopaedic surgery. We aimed to assess the effects of pulsed lavage (PL) irrigation on SSI rates following elective and emergency laparotomies. METHODS: Elective and emergency patients who underwent a laparotomy between 2018 and 2019 were included. Relevant demographic and peri-operative risk factors collected retrospectively, following strengthening the reporting of observational studies in epidemiology (STROBE) criteria. The primary outcome was rate of superficial SSI within 30 days of the operation. Independent risk factors were assessed via multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: 176 patients were identified, with an average age of 60.7 ± 19.1 y. 82.4% (145/176) were emergencies and the mean ASA grade was 2.8. Fifty-two patients (29.5%) had PL used during their operation. Thirty-seven patients (29.8%, 37/124) in the control group developed a SSI, compared to seven patients (13.5%, 7/52) in the PL group (P = 0.022). At multi-variate analysis, the use PL conferring an Odds Ratio 0.36 (CI 0.12-0.94, P= 0.047) for developing a SSI. CONCLUSION: PL appears to significantly reduced the rate of SSI following laparotomy. There remains scope to reduce the incidence of this common and expensive post-operative complication, and PL could provide a potential cost-effective means to deliver improved outcomes. Future prospective randomised trials are essential to fully assess its benefits and wider use within general surgery.

Faecal immunochemical testing for haemoglobin in detecting bowel polyps in symptomatic patients: multicentre prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Measurement of faecal haemoglobin using faecal immunochemistry testing is recommended in patients presenting with symptoms suspicious for colorectal cancer, to aid in triage and prioritization of definitive investigations. While its role in colorectal cancer has been extensively investigated, the ability of faecal immunochemistry testing to detect adenomas in symptomatic patients is unclear. METHODS: A multicentre prospective observational study was conducted between April 2017 and March 2019, recruiting adults from 24 hospitals across England and 59 general practices in London who had been urgently referred with suspected colorectal cancer symptoms. Each patient provided a stool sample for faecal immunochemistry testing, in parallel with definitive investigation. A final diagnosis for each patient was recorded, including the presence, size, histology, and risk type of colonic polyps. The outcome of interest was the sensitivity of faecal immunochemistry testing in detecting the presence of adenomas. RESULTS: Of 3496 patients included in the analysis, 553 (15.8 per cent) had polyps diagnosed. Sensitivity of faecal immunochemistry testing for polyp detection was low across all ranges; with a cut-off for faecal haemoglobin of 4 µg/g or lower, sensitivity was 34.9 per cent and 46.8 per cent for all polyp types and high-risk polyps respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve in detection probability was relatively low for both intermediate-risk (0.63) and high-risk polyps (0.63). CONCLUSION: While faecal immunochemistry testing may be useful in prioritizing investigations to diagnose colorectal cancer, if used as a sole test, the majority of polyps would be missed and the opportunity to prevent progression to colorectal cancer may be lost.