Preventive Therapy of Postoperative Intra-abdominal Infection Based on Serum Lactate Changes

Postoperative intra-abdominal infection is one of the most serious complications after pancreatic resection. Once diagnosed as postoperative intra-abdominal infection, the patient would not only suffer a lot, but also spend much more money and time in hospital. Moreover, subsequent sepsis and septic shock would imperil the patient's life. The preventive use of antibiotics intraoperatively is the key to prevent this complication, but the time, dosage, and choice of the antibiotics are worth discussing. According to the previous work, the investigators found the changes in serum lactate level on postoperative day (POD) 1 could predict postoperative intra-abdominal infection one week before it really happened. The cutoff level of lactate is 3.25mmol/L. Thus, the investigators recommend preventive use of advanced antibiotics for patients who have a peak serum lactate level of >3.250 mmol/L in 24h after pancreatic resection (doi: 10.1007/s00268-021-05987-8. PMID: 33604712).

The investigators would verify the finding in this randomized controlled trial. Patients with peak lactate level >3.250 mmol/L in POD1 and met other inclusion criteria would be recruited and separated into "preventive use of advanced antibiotics group" (experimental group) and "routine group" (control group) randomly. Patients in experimental group would be treated with advanced antibiotics to avoid postoperative intra-abdominal infection. Patients in control group would be treated with routine method (antibiotics with lower levels). To compare the incidence rate of infection and other complications, as well as the payment and other index, the investigators would see if the patients in experimental group could have better prognosis after pancreatic surgery.