Abstract: Objective:To investigate the clinical efficacy of open abdomen management for severe abdominal infection.
Methods:The clinical data of 36 patients with severe abdominal infection who were admitted to the General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Command from January 2009 to January 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. After examination, patients received resuscitation and debridement according to the principle of “damage control surgery”. The surgery was divided into 2 stages. Open abdomen management was applied during the first stage, and 14 days later second stage surgery for abdominal closure was carried out when the abdominal infection was under control. Abdominal pus was collected during the operation for bacterial culture. Antishock, antiinfection, organ function protection, nutritional support and symptomatic treatment were applied after the operation.Patients were followed up via phone call and outpatient examination till March 2014.
Results:All the patients successfully received the first and the second stage surgeries. Six patients died of septic shock and multiorgan dysfunction syndrome, and 30 patients were cured. Eight patients underwent operation for 2 times. The operation time, volume of intraoperative blood loss, time for gastrointestinal function recovery, duration of postoperative hospital stay were (157±26)minutes, (230±64)mL, (44±7)hours and (16±5)days, respectively. Fortyeight bacterial strains were separated, including 31 gramnegative bacterial strains and 17 grampositive bacterial strains. According to the results of drug sensitivity test, antibiotics including imipenem and cefoperazone were selected. Thirty patients were followed up with the median time of 6 months. Six patients were complicated with adhesive intestinal obstruction and 2 with incisional hernia, and they were cured after enterodialysis and hernia repair. No complications were detected in the other 22 patients.
Conclusion: The efficacy of open abdomen management and debridement is satisfactory for the treatment of severe abdominal infection in patients who can bear surgery.