Anti-infective therapy durations predict psychological stress and laparoscopic surgery quality in pelvic abscess patients.

Background: The degree of psychological stress and the difficulty and efficacy of laparoscopic surgery differ in patients with pelvic abscesses after different durations of anti-infection treatment.

Aim: To compare and analyse the effects of different durations of anti-infective therapy on patients' preoperative psychological stress level and the clinical efficacy of laparoscopic surgery in patients with pelvic abscesses to offer a reference for the selection of therapy plans.

Methods: A total of 100 patients with pelvic abscesses who were admitted to the Department of Gynecology of Suzhou Ninth Hospital affiliated to Soochow University (Suzhou Ninth People's Hospital) from January 2018 to December 2022 were retrospectively enrolled. According to the different durations of anti-infective therapy, they were divided into Group S (50 patients, received anti-infective therapy for 24-48 h) and Group L (50 patients, received anti-infective therapy for 48-96 h). Baseline data, state-trait anxiety score at admission and before surgery, self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) + self-rating depression scale (SDS) score, surgery time, adhesion grading score, intraoperative blood loss, presence or absence of intraoperative intestinal injury, ureteral injury or bladder injury, postoperative body temperature, length of hospital stay, and presence or absence of recurrence within 3 mo after surgery, chronic pelvic pain, incision infection, dysmenorrhea, menstrual disorder or intestinal obstruction were compared between the S group and the L group.

Results: There was no significant difference in the background data between the S group and the L group ( < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the state-trait anxiety score or SAS + SDS score between the S group and the L group on admission ( < 0.05). The state-trait anxiety score and SAS + SDS score of the S group were lower than those of Group L after receiving different durations of anti-infective therapy ( < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of intestinal, ureteral or bladder injury between the S group and the L group ( < 0.05). The surgery time of Group S was shorter than that of Group L, and the adhesion score and intraoperative blood loss volume were lower than those of Group L ( < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of incision infection, dysmenorrhea, menstrual disorder or intestinal obstruction between the S group and the L group ( < 0.05). The postoperative body temperature of Group S was lower than that of Group L ( < 0.05), and the hospital stay was shorter than that of Group L ( < 0.05). The incidences of recurrence and chronic pelvic pain within 3 mo after surgery were lower than that of Group L ( < 0.05).

Conclusion: Twenty-four to forty-eight hours of anti-infective therapy is better than 48-96 h of anti-infective therapy for patients with pelvic abscesses because the degree of psychological stress is lower, which is more conducive to achieving better outcomes after laparoscopic surgery.