Factors influencing perineal wound healing after proctectomy

The hospital and office records of 86 patients who underwent proctectomy for cancer of inflammatory bowel disease with primary closure of the perineal wound were reviewed. Almost one fourth of all patients suffered a significant perineal wound complication, the majority of which were infections. The incidence of postoperative perineal wound complications was comparable in both groups of patients. Urinary retention occurred in 24 percent of patients who underwent abdominoperineal resection or rectal cancer, and half of these patients required transurethral resection which indicates the need for more thorough preoperative assessment of bladder function, especially in older men. The development of leg ischemia that resulted in amputation in two elderly patients who had preoperative evidence of obstructive peripheral vascular disease suggests that a synchronous two-team abdominoperineal resection with the patient in the modified lithotomy position for a prolonged period should be avoided. One third of all patients were discharged less than 10 days after surgery and two thirds within 2 weeks. Prolonged stays were more frequent in cancer patients and appeared to be related to age rather than to the development of postoperative complications. The perineal wound after abdominoperineal resection for cancer healed more rapidly and more completely than did the wound after proctectomy for inflammatory bowel disease. Fourteen percent of the inflammatory bowel disease patients did not have a healed wound 1 year after surgery. The extent of rectal cancer as determined by Duke's classification played no role in healing of the perineal wound, but women with rectal cancer healed at a slower rate than did men. The location of the exit site for wound catheters and the use of cautery and preoperative steroid therapy appeared too have no effect on the healing of the perineal wound.