Delayed primary skin closure reduce surgical site infection following surgery for gastrointestinal perforation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Following surgery for Gastrointestinal (GI) perforation, there is an increased occurrence of Surgical Site Infections (SSI). The beneficial effect of employing delayed primary skin closure (DPC) on severely contaminated incisions subsequent to surgery for GI perforation remains unverified.

To systematically evaluate the advantages of the DPC management in surgery for GI perforation.

A literature search was performed using ClinicalTrials.gov, Pubmed, Embase, Cocharane, and Web of Science identified all eligible English-language studies related to surgery for GI perforation through October 2023. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) comparing DPC with primary skin closure (PC) in surgery for GI perforation were included. Two investigators independently performed the inclusion work, and a third investigator was consulted for resolving conflicts. Data were extracted by multiple independent investigators and pooled in a random-effects model. The primary outcome was SSI, defined in accordance with the original studies. The secondary outcome was the length of stay (LOS).

Final analysis included 12 RCTs which included a total of 903 patients were randomizing divided into either DPC or PC, including 289 patients with gastroduodenal perforation (32%), 144 patients with small intestine perforation (15.96%), 60 patients with colon perforation (6.64%), and 410 patients with appendix perforation (45.4%). The rates of SSI was significantly decreased after DPC management (OR:0.31, 95%CI:0.15–0.63, p < 0.01), no significant differences were observed between the DPC group and PC group in terms of LOS (MD: − 0.37, 95% CI: − 1.91–1.16, p = 0.63).

These results point to the efficacy of DPC management in reducing SSI in patients under surgery for GI perforation, and this strategy did not increase the LOS. This systematic review and meta-analysis may contribute to informed decision-making in the management of severely contaminated wounds associated with GI perforation.