[Wound healing disorder in surgery of colorectal cancer--a multifactorial computer analysis]

From 1966 through 1984 1,451 resections of colorectal carcinoma have been performed in the Department of General Surgery at the RWTH Aachen. 229 (15.8%) of the patients developed an infection of the abdominal incision. As predisposing factors we observed failures correlated with progression of tumor as anemia and hypoproteinemia, a bad general condition and late stages of carcinoma. Accompanying illnesses only had an influence on the infection rate if they could not be recompensated by intensive care medicine. No influence could be determined by the age itself. The improved preoperative preparation with orthograde lavage and enteral and systemic antibiotic prophylaxis caused a decrease of the infection rate from 25% to less than 10%. Nevertheless attending to all these parameters a quick and atraumatic operation procedure is indispensable to avoide a failure of wound healing.