AUTHOR=Wang Jin , Lv Wen , Xu Shihai , Yang Chao , Du Bo , Zhong Yuanbo , Shi Fei , Shan Aijun 

TITLE=Intraoperative incision irrigation with high-volume saline reduces surgical site infection for abdominal infections

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Surgery

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/surgery/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.927896

DOI=10.3389/fsurg.2022.927896

ISSN=2296-875X

ABSTRACT=<sec><title>Purpose</title><p>Surgical site infection (SSI) remains one of the most common postoperative complications for patients with abdominal infections. This study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of high-volume normal saline (NS) irrigation in preventing postoperative SSI for patients with abdominal infections.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>In this retrospective before-after clinical study, patients who underwent emergency laparotomy due to abdominal infections between Jan 2015 and Dec 2021 were included consecutively. A cohort of 207 patients with NS irrigation was compared to historical controls. A propensity score matching (PSM) with a 1:1 ratio was performed to reduce potential bias. The primary outcome was the 30-day SSI rate.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Irrigation (<italic>n = </italic>207) and control (<italic>n = </italic>207) matched patients were statistically identical on baseline characteristics, perioperative, and intraoperative parameters. Irrigation patients had lower overall SSI rates (10.6% vs. 26.1%, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), mainly due to reduction in superficial (4.3% vs. 17.9%) and deep (1.4% vs. 3.9%) SSIs, rather than space/organ SSIs (4.8% vs. 4.3%). Irrigation patients also had lower rates of incision seroma (4.8% vs. 11.6%, <italic>p</italic> = 0.012), shorter duration of antibiotics use (5.2 ± 1.7 d vs. 7.2 ± 2.0 d, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), and unplanned readmission (1.0% vs. 8.7%, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001). Length of hospital stay showed a declining trend with irrigation intervention, while no significant difference was observed. Moreoever, logistic regression revealed that NS irrigationwas an independent protector against SSI (<italic>OR</italic> 0.309; <italic>95% CI,</italic> 0.207–0.462; <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>Intraoperative incision irrigation with high-volume NS is associated with a lower rate of SSI for patients with abdominal infections.</p></sec>