Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Nov 27, 2023; 15(11): 2579-2595
Published online Nov 27, 2023. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v15.i11.2579
Risk and management of post-operative infectious complications in inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review
Reshma Kureemun Mowlah, Jonathan Soldera
Reshma Kureemun Mowlah, Jonathan Soldera, Acute Medicine, University of South Wales, Cardiff CF37 1DL, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Mowlah RK and Soldera J participated in the concept and design of the research, drafted the manuscript and contributed to data acquisition, analysis and interpretation; Soldera J contributed to study supervision; all authors contributed to critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jonathan Soldera, MD, MSc, Tutor, Acute Medicine, University of South Wales, Llantwit Road, Pontypridd, Cardiff CF37 1DL, United Kingdom. jonathansoldera@gmail.com
Received: July 17, 2023
Peer-review started: July 17, 2023
First decision: August 8, 2023
Revised: August 13, 2023
Accepted: October 27, 2023
Article in press: October 27, 2023
Published online: November 27, 2023
Processing time: 133 Days and 8.7 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This paper highlights the risk factors associated with post-operative infectious complications in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) undergoing abdominal surgery and explores management strategies to reduce morbidity and mortality. Key findings include the association of hypoalbuminemia, malnutrition, preoperative abscess, obesity, and perioperative blood transfusion with increased infectious complications. Corticosteroids were found to be a risk factor, while medications such as 5-aminosalicylates and immunomodulators did not increase complications. Ustekinumab and vedolizumab showed comparable rates of infectious complications to other treatments. The impact of minimally invasive surgery on complications varied. This paper emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive approach involving multiple disciplines to mitigate post-operative infections in IBD patients. Understanding these risk factors and implementing appropriate management strategies can improve outcomes in this patient population.