Objective To explore the influencing factors of postoperative infection in patients with gynecological malignant tumors.
Methods A total of 234 patients with gynecological malignancies who underwent surgical treatment at the Department of Gynecology, Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing University from April 2020 to March 2023 were selected as the study subjects. Among them, 80 cases were cervical cancer, 107 cases were ovarian cancer, and 47 cases were endometrial cancer. Patients were divided into infection group (n=55) and non-infection group (n=179) based on whether they developed postoperative infection. A retrospective analysis was conducted to collect general clinical data and preoperative, surgical, and postoperative data from both groups, and comparative analyses were performed using independent-samples t test and chi-square test. Multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the independent influencing factors of postoperative infection in gynecological malignant tumor patients. There were no statistically significant differences in age, body mass index (BMI), or other general clinical data between two groups (P>0.05). The procedures followed in this study were approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Chongqing General Hospital, Chongqing University (Approval No. KYS2022-012-01).
Results ①Among 234 patients with gynecological malignancies, 55 cases (23.5%) developed postoperative infections. Of the 55 infected patients, 60 strains of pathogens were cultured, with Escherichia coli having the highest incidence (32/55, 58.2%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5/55, 9.1%), Enterobacter cloacae subsp. cloacae (4/55, 7.3%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (4/55, 7.3%); 8 cases (14.5%) had dual bacterial infections. ②Univariate analysis revealed that there were statistically significant differences between two groups in 13 factors, including tumor type, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) classification, operation duration, type of vaginal stump suture, use of drainage tube, drainage tube placement location, duration of indwelling drainage tube, number of urinary catheter insertions, duration of indwelling urinary catheter, ≥1 central venous catheterization, duration of central venous catheterization, types of postoperative use of antibiotics, and duration of antibiotic use (P<0.05). ③Multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that ASA classification Ⅲ+ Ⅳ and conventional suture for vaginal stump closure were independent risk factors for postoperative infection in patients with gynecological tumors (OR=3.266, 3.632, 95%CI: 1.361-7.645, 1.454-9.072, P=0.008, 0.006). Compared to postoperative cephalosporin antibiotics alone, postoperative use of non-cephalosporin antibiotics was an independent protective factor against postoperative infection in patients with gynecological malignancies (OR=0.298, 95%CI: 0.127-0.702, P=0.006). Compared to postoperative antibiotic use for 1-3 days, postoperative antibiotic use for 4-7 days and ≥8 days were also independent protective factors against postoperative infection in patients with gynecological malignancies (OR=0.103, 0.073, 95%CI: 0.031-0.340, 0.019-0.277, both P<0.001).
Conclusions ASA classification, vaginal suture type, type of postoperative antibiotics used, and duration of postoperative antibiotic use are all independent influencing factors for postoperative infection in patients with gynecological malignancies. Postoperative nutritional intervention, intraoperative antimicrobial suture utilization, proper postoperative use of antibiotics and standardized postoperative antibiotic protocols may effectively reduce the risk of postoperative infection in patients with gynecological malignancies.