Assessment of mechanical bowel preparation prior to nephrectomy in the minimally invasive surgery era: insights from a national database analysis in the United States.

Purpose: This study was performed to evaluate the association between mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) and perioperative outcomes following nephrectomy in the minimally invasive surgery (MIS) era.

Methods: All partial and radical nephrectomies between 2019 and 2021 from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database were evaluated. Thirty-day perioperative outcomes were compared between groups where MBP was performed vs. not, in both the MIS and open surgery (OS) cohorts. A propensity score matching technique was utilized within MIS cases to control for covariates. The chi-square and tests were used to determine significance.

Results: A total of 11,869 cases met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Of these, 8,204 (69.1%; comprising 65.3% robotic and 34.7% laparoscopic) underwent MIS, while 3,665 (30.9%) underwent OS. The rate of MBP was higher in the MIS group (16.0% vs. 10.0%, < 0.001). Within the MIS group, MBP was associated with reduced rates of postoperative ileus (0.9% vs. 1.9%, = 0.02), while other complications were comparable. Propensity score matching showed no association between MBP and postoperative ileus. However, a lower rate of 30-day readmission in the MBP group became statistically significant (4.4% vs. 6.4%, = 0.01). Conversely, patients in the MBP group also demonstrated higher rates of pneumonia (1.3% vs. 0.5%, = 0.002) and pulmonary embolism (0.6% vs. 0%, < 0.001) after matching.

Conclusion: MBP practice prior to nephrectomy is infrequent in both OS and MIS cases, with minor differences in perioperative outcomes for patients undergoing MIS. Routine MBP should continue to be excluded from the standard of care for nephrectomy in the MIS era.