J. Forty

One hundred patients undergoing elective left-sided colonic or rectal resections were randomly allocated to have an anastomosis performed either with the EEA stapling gun or by hand suture using a single layer of interrupted sutures. In six patients the anastomosis could not be performed with the stapling gun. Clinical leakage occurred in two of the remaining 94 cases; both had hand-sutured anastomoses. Radiological leakage was demonstrated in 13 further cases (7 stapled, 6 sutured); there was no statistical difference in leakage rate with stapled and hand-sutured anastomoses.

BACKGROUND: WBC-replete blood transfusion has been suggested as an independent cause of increased postoperative infection. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 597 patients undergoing elective coronary artery or heart valve surgery were randomly assigned to receive plasma-reduced (PR), buffy coat-depleted (BCD), or WBC-filtered (WCF) RBCs in the event of requiring blood transfusion. Details of postoperative course were recorded. Further information was collected from the patient's general practitioner 3 months after discharge. RESULTS: No significant difference in inpatient infection rates was observed among patients randomly assigned to receive PR, BCD, or WCF RBCs. When only those receiving transfusion were analyzed (n = 509), use of PR RBCs was associated with more events coded as infections (p < or = 0.05) compared with BCD or WCF RBCs. However, when events coded as urinary tract infections were excluded, there was no significant difference among the three groups. Follow-up performed after discharge showed no difference in readmission rates, but a higher reported rate of infection in those randomly assigned to receive WCF RBCs (p < 0.02). CONCLUSION: No evidence has been found, analyzed by intention to treat, that use of WBC-reduced, BCD, or WCF RBCs reduces postoperative inpatient infection in patients undergoing cardiac bypass surgery.