Eiji Higaki1, Tetsuya Abe2, Hironori Fujieda2, Takahiro Hosoi2, Takuya Nagao2, Koji Komori2, Seiji Ito2, Naoya Itoh3, Keitaro Matsuo4,5, Yasuhiro Shimizu2. 1. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. ehigaki@aichi-cc.jp. 2. Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. 3. Division of Infectious Diseases, Aichi Cancer Center Hospital, Nagoya, Japan. 4. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute, Nagoya, Japan. 5. Division of Cancer Epidemiology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Postoperative pneumonia is a common complication after esophagectomy and is associated with a high mortality rate. Although many randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on the prevention of postoperative pneumonia, little attention has been paid to the efficacy of antimicrobial prophylaxis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of antimicrobial prophylaxis on the prevention of postoperative pneumonia. METHODS: Data of patients with esophageal cancer who underwent thoracoscopic esophagectomy between 2016 and 2020 were collected. Early-period patients received cefazolin (CEZ) per protocol as antimicrobial prophylaxis (n = 250), and later-period patients received ampicillin/sulbactam (ABPC/SBT) (n = 106) because of the unavailability of CEZ in Japan. The incidence of pneumonia was compared between treatments in this quasi-experimental setting. Pneumonia detected by routine computed tomography (CT) on postoperative Days 5-6 was defined as early-onset pneumonia, and pneumonia that developed later was defined as late-onset pneumonia. RESULTS: The incidence of early-onset pneumonia was significantly lower (3.8% vs. 13.6%, P = 0.006), and the median length of postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter (17 vs. 20 days, P < 0.001) in the ABPC/SBT group than in the CEZ group. The incidence of late-onset pneumonia was similar between groups (9.4% vs. 10.0%, P = 0.870). The incidence of Clostridioides difficile infections and the incidence of multidrug-resistant organisms were similar between groups. Multivariate analyses consistently showed the superiority of ABPC/SBT to CEZ in preventing early-onset pneumonia (odds ratio: 0.20, P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: ABPC/SBT after esophagectomy was better at preventing early-onset pneumonia compared with CEZ and was feasible regarding the development of antimicrobial resistance.
BACKGROUND: Postoperative pneumonia is a common complication after esophagectomy and is associated with a high mortality rate. Although many randomized, controlled trials have been conducted on the prevention of postoperative pneumonia, little attention has been paid to the efficacy of antimicrobial prophylaxis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of antimicrobial prophylaxis on the prevention of postoperative pneumonia. METHODS: Data of patients with esophageal cancer who underwent thoracoscopic esophagectomy between 2016 and 2020 were collected. Early-period patients received cefazolin (CEZ) per protocol as antimicrobial prophylaxis (n = 250), and later-period patients received ampicillin/sulbactam (ABPC/SBT) (n = 106) because of the unavailability of CEZ in Japan. The incidence of pneumonia was compared between treatments in this quasi-experimental setting. Pneumonia detected by routine computed tomography (CT) on postoperative Days 5-6 was defined as early-onset pneumonia, and pneumonia that developed later was defined as late-onset pneumonia. RESULTS: The incidence of early-onset pneumonia was significantly lower (3.8% vs. 13.6%, P = 0.006), and the median length of postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter (17 vs. 20 days, P < 0.001) in the ABPC/SBT group than in the CEZ group. The incidence of late-onset pneumonia was similar between groups (9.4% vs. 10.0%, P = 0.870). The incidence of Clostridioides difficile infections and the incidence of multidrug-resistant organisms were similar between groups. Multivariate analyses consistently showed the superiority of ABPC/SBT to CEZ in preventing early-onset pneumonia (odds ratio: 0.20, P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: ABPC/SBT after esophagectomy was better at preventing early-onset pneumonia compared with CEZ and was feasible regarding the development of antimicrobial resistance.