Preoperative surveillance rectal swab is associated with an increased risk of infectious complications in pancreaticoduodenectomy and directs antimicrobial prophylaxis: an antibiotic stewardship strategy?

BackgroundDespite improvements in the perioperative care, the morbidity rate after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is still higher than 50%. The aim of this study was twofold: first, to assess the correlation between preoperative rectal swab (RS) and intraoperative bile cultures; to examine the impact of RS isolates on postoperative course after PD.MethodsAn observational study was conducted analyzing all consecutive PD performed from January 2015...