Intraoperative bile culture helps choosing antibiotics in pancreaticoduodenectomy: mechanistic profiling study of complex rink between bacterobilia and postoperative complications.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative complications after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is still a major concern. The aim of this study was to propose how to choose antibiotics, based on bacterial sensitivity profiling involved in postoperative complications after PD.

METHODS: Two hundred and thirty patients underwent PD between 2008 and 2018 at Kumamoto University Hospital. We enrolled 121 patients who had both intraoperative bile culture and drain culture on postoperative day (POD) 3. The clinical impact of the bacterial profile on postoperative outcome was retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS: Multivariate regression analysis revealed that intraperitoneal contamination on POD3 was independently associated with postoperative complications (odds ratio 2.62, P =0.02). The bacteria in intraperitoneal drain on POD3 showed 94.9% similarity with those in bile collected during surgery. The major species were Enterococcus (44.6%) and Enterobacter (38.5%). Enterobacter species caused a higher rate of postoperative complications than others (83% vs 54%, P =0.04). Three out of five Enterococcus faecium were resistant to carbapenems that were active against all Gram-negative rods.

CONCLUSIONS: Intraperitoneal contamination on POD3, which had similar bacterial species as bile collected during surgery, was correlated with postoperative complications. The bacterial antibiotic sensitivity profile may help selecting optimal antibiotics against infectious postoperative complications in PD.