Probiotics and Synbiotics Decrease Postoperative Sepsis in Elective Gastrointestinal Surgical Patients: a Meta-Analysis

Background The health benefits of probiotics and synbiotics are well established in healthy adults, but their role in preventing postoperative sepsis remains controversial. This meta-analysis assesses the impact of probiotics and synbiotics on the incidence of postoperative sepsis in gastrointestina...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of gastrointestinal surgery 2016-06, Vol.20 (6), p.1123-1131
Main Authors: Arumugam, Sudha, Lau, Christine S. M., Chamberlain, Ronald S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibiotics
Confidence intervals
Critical care
Digestive System Surgical Procedures - statistics & numerical data
Drug dosages
Elective Surgical Procedures - statistics & numerical data
Gastroenterology
Humans
Incidence
Infections
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Meta-analysis
Microorganisms
Mortality
Motility
Original Article
Prebiotics
Probiotics
Probiotics - therapeutic use
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Sepsis
Sepsis - epidemiology
Surgery
Synbiotics - administration & dosage
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Summary:Background The health benefits of probiotics and synbiotics are well established in healthy adults, but their role in preventing postoperative sepsis remains controversial. This meta-analysis assesses the impact of probiotics and synbiotics on the incidence of postoperative sepsis in gastrointestinal (GI) surgical patients. Methods A comprehensive literature search of all published randomized control trials (RCTs) was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar (1966–2015). Inclusion criteria included RCTs comparing the use of any strain or dose of a specified probiotic/synbiotic with placebo or a “no treatment” control group. The incidence of postoperative sepsis (within 1 month of surgery) and postoperative mortality were analyzed. Results Fifteen RCTs involving 1201 patients (192 receiving probiotics, 413 receiving synbiotics, and 596 receiving placebo) were analyzed. Overall, probiotic and synbiotic uses significantly reduced the risk of developing postoperative sepsis by 38 % (relative risk (RR) = 0.62, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.52–0.74, p  
ISSN:1091-255X
1873-4626
DOI:10.1007/s11605-016-3142-y