Benefit of mechanical bowel preparation prior to elective colorectal surgery: current insights

Background Back in the 1970s, the administration of oral antibiotics combined with mechanical bowel preparation prior to colorectal surgery was considered standard procedure and adopted widely. Subsequent evidence suggested that bowel cleansing was unnecessary, even harmful, and hence was abandoned....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Langenbeck's archives of surgery 2016-08, Vol.401 (5), p.573-580
Main Authors: Murray, A. C. A., Kiran, R. P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdominal Surgery
Cardiac Surgery
Colectomy - adverse effects
Elective Surgical Procedures - adverse effects
General Surgery
Humans
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Postoperative Complications - etiology
Postoperative Complications - prevention & control
Preoperative Care
Review Article
Thoracic Surgery
Traumatic Surgery
Vascular Surgery
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background Back in the 1970s, the administration of oral antibiotics combined with mechanical bowel preparation prior to colorectal surgery was considered standard procedure and adopted widely. Subsequent evidence suggested that bowel cleansing was unnecessary, even harmful, and hence was abandoned. Most recent evidence, however, suggests that full preparation significantly improves a spectrum of colectomy-specific postoperative outcomes. Purpose The purpose of this review was to describe existing literature regarding the optimal bowel preparation regimen prior to elective colorectal resection. In addition, we evaluate the available evidence on each component—oral antibiotics, mechanical bowel preparation and intravenous antibiotics, with regard to short-term postoperative outcomes. Conclusions Current best evidence suggests that colorectal resection should be preceded by a combination of oral antibiotics, mechanical bowel preparation and intravenous antibiotics at induction. Further randomized controlled trials are required due to a paucity of level 1 evidence.
ISSN:1435-2443
1435-2451
DOI:10.1007/s00423-016-1461-9