Mechanical bowel preparation is a long standing practice in elective open colon surgery dating from the 1970's. It has always been believed to reduce the rate of postoperative complications in the... Show moreMechanical bowel preparation is a long standing practice in elective open colon surgery dating from the 1970's. It has always been believed to reduce the rate of postoperative complications in the form of anastomotic leakage and wound infection. In this thesis we broadly and thoroughly examine the various aspects and the value of mechanical bowel preparation in elective open colon surgery. - Mechanical bowel preparation in elective open colon surgery does not reduce the rate of anastomotic leak or wound infection nor does it reduce peritoneal bacterial contamination. It is however poorly tolerated by patients and the total workload for the nursing staff and health care costs are considerable. Therefore, it is superfluous in elective open colon surgery and should be abandoned. - The intraoperative subcutaneous bacterial swab is a powerful negative predictor of a postoperative wound infection in elective open colon surgery. -Mechanical bowel preparation with polythylene glycol causes no significant additional histopathologic damage of colonic tissue, in comparison with patients receiving a normal meal the night before open colon surgery. - Mechanical bowel preparation with polyethylene glycol does not significantly interfere with colon anastomotic healing in rats. - There is no significant benefit of a single dose of intraluminal 3.0 mMn-butyrate on colon anastomotic healing in rats after polyethylene glycol bowel preparation. Show less
