Clinical characteristics and risk factors of post-operative intestinal flora disorder following laparoscopic colonic surgery: A propensity-score-matching analysis.

Background: Intestinal flora disorder (IFD) poses a significant challenge after laparoscopic colonic surgery, and no standard criteria exists for its diagnosis and treatment.

Aim: To analyze the clinical features and risk factors of IFD.

Methods: Patients with colon cancer receiving laparoscopic surgery were included using propensity-score-matching (PSM) methods. Based on the occurrence of IFD, patients were categorized into IFD and non-IFD groups. The clinical characteristics and treatment approaches for patients with IFD were analyzed. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to identify the risk factors of IFD.

Results: The IFD incidence after laparoscopic surgery was 9.0% (97 of 1073 patients). After PSM, 97 and 194 patients were identified in the IFD and non-IFD groups, respectively. The most common symptoms of IFD were diarrhea and abdominal, typically occurring on post-operative days 3 and 4. All patients were managed conservatively, including modulation of the intestinal flora (90.7%), oral/intravenous application of vancomycin (74.2%), and insertion of a gastric/ileus tube for decompression (23.7%). Multivariate regression analysis identified that pre-operative intestinal obstruction [odds ratio (OR) = 2.79, 95%CI: 1.04-7.47, = 0.041] and post-operative antibiotics (OR = 8.57, 95%CI: 3.31-23.49, < 0.001) were independent risk factors for IFD, whereas pre-operative parenteral nutrition (OR = 0.12, 95%CI: 0.06-0.26, < 0.001) emerged as a protective factor.

Conclusion: A stepwise approach of probiotics, vancomycin, and decompression could be an alternative treatment for IFD. Special attention is warranted post-operatively for patients with pre-operative obstruction or early use of antibiotics.