Prediction and Countermeasure Against Post Operative Infection in Gastroenterological Surgery

Takashi Yokoyama

Department of General Medicine, Hiroshima University, School of Medicine

The risk of postoperative infection is high in gastroenterological surgery, because bacterial contamination by the resident intestinal flora occurs easily and patients often suffer malnutrition. So it is important but very difficult to predict postoperative infection and take measures to deal with it. In this paper, I summarize the bacterial organisms, local environments, and host defense mechanisms in postoperative infections and discuss the preoperative evaluation and treatment of compromised hosts and the influence of surgical stress on postoperative infections. Moreover, I summarize the methods for early detection of postoperative infections and the frequency of causative organisms according to various types of postoperative infections or to various conditions of the patients to select the proper antibiotics for postoperative infections. Since prediction of postoperative infections is difficult, it is important to recognize the risk factors underlying these infections and to make an early diagnosis of the infection.

Key words
prediction of postoperative infection, detection of postoperative infection, surgical stress

Reprint requests
Takashi Yokoyama Department of General Medicine, Hiroshima University, School of Medicine
1-2-3 Kasumi Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734 JAPAN

Accepted
October 9, 1996

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