Five days of postoperative antimicrobial therapy decreases infectious complications following pancreaticoduodenectomy in patients at risk for bile contamination.

Objectives: Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is associated with high morbidity, in part as a result of infectious complications increased by preoperative bile contamination. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect on the incidence of infectious complications of short-term antimicrobial therapy (AMT) in high-risk patients.

Methods: Patients with a high risk for positive intraoperative bile culture (i.e. those with ampulloma or pancreatic adenocarcinoma with preoperative endoscopic procedures) (high-risk group, n = 99) were compared with low-risk patients (i.e. those with pancreatic adenocarcinoma without preoperative endoscopic procedures) (low-risk group, n = 76). The high-risk group received a 5-day course of perioperative AMT secondarily adapted to the bile antibiogram. The low-risk group received only the usual antimicrobial prophylaxis.

Results: Positive bile cultures were significantly more frequent in high-risk patients (81% versus 12%; P < 0.001). The overall rate of infectious complications was lower in the high-risk group (29% versus 46%; P = 0.018). The statistically significant decrease in the rate of infectious complications reflected reduced rates of urinary tract infections, pulmonary infections and septicaemia. Rates of wound infection (3% versus 5%; P = 0.639) and intra-abdominal abscess (7% versus 7%; P = 0.886) were similar in the high- and low-risk groups, as was the need for curative AMT.

Conclusions: This exploratory study suggests that a postoperative short course of AMT in patients at high risk for biliary contamination reduces the overall rate of infectious complications after PD. The adaptation of perioperative antimicrobial policy to the patient's risk for bile contamination seems promising and should be further evaluated.