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Published on: October 29, 2014
Meta-analysis: pre-operative infliximab treatment and short-term post-operative complications in patients with
1Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Background:
Infliximab was approved for use in ulcerative colitis in recent years. It has been debated if infliximab increases the risk of post-operative complications in patients with ulcerative colitis.
Aim:
To perform a meta-analysis that examines the relationship between preoperative infliximab treatment and short-term post-operative complications in patients with ulcerative colitis.
Methods:
We searched the PubMed and MEDLINE databases to identify observational studies on the impact of pre-operative infliximab use on short-term post-operative complications in ulcerative colitis. Infectious complications mainly included wound infection, sepsis and abscess, whereas non-infectious complications included intestinal obstruction, thromboembolism and gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for each relationship.
Results:
A total of 5 studies and 706 patients were included in our meta-analysis. Overall, we did not find a strong association between pre-operative treatment of infliximab and short-term infectious [OR 2.24, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63-7.95] or non-infectious (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.50-1.45) post-operative complications in ulcerative colitis patients. On the contrary, we discovered that pre-operative infliximab use increased short-term total post-operative complications (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.12-2.87).
Conclusions:
Pre-operative infliximab use increased the risk of short-term post-operative complications. Subgroup analysis is underpowered to assess the nature of these complications but shows a trend towards increased post-operative infection.
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