RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Mechanical bowel preparation is routinely done before colon and rectal surgery, aimed at reducing the risk of postoperative infectious complications. The aim of the study was to assess whether elective colon and rectal surgery can be safely performed without preoperative mechanical bowel preparation. METHODS: Patients undergoing elective colon and rectal resections with primary anastomosis were prospectively randomized into two groups. Group A had mechanical bowel preparation with polyethylene glycol before surgery, and group B had their surgery without preoperative mechanical bowel preparation. Patients were followed up for 30 days for wound, anastomotic, and intra-abdominal infectious complications. RESULTS: Two hundred forty four patients were included in the study, 120 in group A and 124 in group B. Demographic characteristics, type of surgical procedure and type of anastomosis did not significantly differ between the two groups. There was no difference in the rate of surgical infectious complications between the two groups but the overall infectious complications rate was 20.0% in group A and 11.3% in group B (p .05). Wound infection (p = 0.18), anastomotic leak (p = 0.52), and intra-abdominal abscess (p = 0.36) occurred in 9.2%, 5.8%, and 5.0% versus 4.8%, 4.0%, and 2.4%, respectively. No mechanical bowel preparation seems to be safe also in rectal surgery. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that elective colon and rectal surgery may be safely performed without mechanical preparation.
Asunto(s)
Anastomosis Quirúrgica , Neoplasias del Colon/cirugía , Neoplasias del Recto/cirugía , Anciano , Femenino , Estudios de Seguimiento , Humanos , Masculino , Polietilenglicoles/administración & dosificación , Complicaciones Posoperatorias , Estudios Prospectivos , Tensoactivos/administración & dosificación , Infección de la Herida Quirúrgica , Tasa de Supervivencia , Resultado del TratamientoRESUMEN
Here we report a case of a 60 years old woman who came to the Emergency Department of San Martino Hospital suffering from abdominal pain for about a week with high fever in the last 24 hours. The final histological examination led to the diagnosis of ileal diverticulosis associated with perforation and peritonitis with a fibrotic reaction involving the last ileal loop, the caecum and the appendix.