Short-term outcomes following purse-string versus conventional closure of ileostomy wounds in Chinese colorectal cancer patients — a single center retrospective study

Abstract

Background Nearly 15% colorectal cancer (CRC) patients received ileostomy, while surgical site infection (SSI) is a common complication after ileostomy wound closure. Purse-string closure was reported to reduce SSI rate in ileostomy wound closure compared with conventional linear closure, but had never been systematically reported in CRC patients. The present study aimed to compare the short-term outcomes between purse-string and conventional closure in Chinese CRC patients. Patients and methods A total of 57 CRC patients underwent ileostomy wounds closure in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University during November, 2015 and October, 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Twenty-nine received purse-string closure while the others received conventional closure. The short-term outcomes including SSI rate, scar length, pain score and hospital stay were reviewed and analyzed. Results There were no significant differences in the characteristics of the patients between two groups. The SSI rate was similar within two groups (10.3% vs 10.7%, p = 1.000). The purse-string closure group had a significantly short scar length (1.66 cm vs 5.30 cm, p < 0.0001), but had no difference in operation time, hospital stay and postoperative pain. Conclusion The present study did not find superiority of Purse-string closure in SSI rate control. It seemed only had a cosmetic effect according to its shorter scar length.