Background: The efficacy of drains and of antibiotics for prophylaxis of postoperative retroperitoneal infections following radical hysterectomy with systematic lymphadenectomy has not yet been adequately investigated.
Methods: Patients who had just undergone radical hysterectomy were divided into three groups. We used a retroperitoneal drain transvaginally for Groups A (n = 54) and B (n = 55) and transabdominally for Group C (n = 103). Group A was administered a first- and Groups B and C a second- or third-generation cephem antibiotic as the prophylactic antibiotic. We compared the surgery time, blood loss, fever index and febrile morbidity in these three groups.
Results: The average surgery time was Group A 344.2 +/- 13.7 min (mean +/- SE), Group B 425.6 +/- 11.0 min and Group C 528.2 +/- 10.9 min. A significant difference was observed among the groups (p < 0.05). In terms of blood loss during surgery, a significant increase (p < 0.05) occurred in Groups B (2400 +/- 196 g) and C (2373 +/- 130 g) compared with Group A (1820 +/- 122 g). For fever index, Group A showed a value of 36.1 +/- 2.7 dh, Group B 19.9 +/- 2.4 dh and Group C 8.8 +/- 1.5 dh. A significant difference was observed among the groups (p < 0.01). In terms of febrile morbidity, significant differences (p < 0.01, p < 0.0001) were observed between Groups B (14.6%) and C (8.7%) in comparison with Group A (44.4%), respectively.
Conclusion: In radical hysterectomy with systematic lymphadenectomy, it may be preferable to choose transabdominal drains in the retroperitoneal space and second-generation cephem antibiotics for prophylaxis of postoperative retroperitoneal infections.