Abstract
Background
Abdominal cavity drainage fluid can be used as an early diagnostic tool of postoperative complications, and observing its characteristics can help us to judge and handle postoperative complications. There is no accurate standard reference range on its characteristics after surgeries for gastrointestinal or retroperitoneal tumors. This research attempted to analyze its characteristics in Chinese patients without postoperative complications after surgery for gastrointestinal or retroperitoneal tumors, and to offer an experimental basis for establishing a reliable standard reference range for abdominal cavity drainage fluid used to detect postoperative complications.
Methods
This study enrolled 262 Chinese patients without postoperative complications after surgery for gastrointestinal or retroperitoneal tumors.
Results
All patients had a median age (range) of 55 (19–72) years, and 150 (57.3%) were men. There were 93 (35.5%), 115 (43.9%), and 54 (20.6%) patients who underwent surgery for upper gastrointestinal tumors, lower gastrointestinal tumors, and retroperitoneal tumors, respectively. The total amount, density, and pH of the abdominal cavity drainage fluid were 204 (0–6,195) mL, 1.032 (1.011–1.047) kg/m3, and pH 7.0 (5.0–7.5), respectively. The total numbers of cells and white blood cells were 1.3×1011 (5.5×108–6.2×1012)/L and 3.7×109 (1.0×107–5.0×1011)/L, respectively. The levels of sugar and protein were 3 (0–37) mmol/L and 39 (1–272) g/L. The total amount of abdominal cavity drainage fluid, the total number of cells, the total number of white blood cells, the number of multinucleated cells, the number of monocytes, and the levels of sugar were statistically significantly different between the three groups (P<0.05 for all).
Conclusion
This study described the characteristics of abdominal cavity drainage fluid in Chinese patients without postoperative complications after surgery for gastrointestinal or retroperitoneal tumors, and provided an experimental basis for establishing a reliable standard reference range for abdominal cavity drainage fluid for screening for postoperative complications.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the patients for their participation in the study. This study was supported by the Key Nursery Fund of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital technical innovation (13KMZ04) and the Medical Scientific Research Fund of the Hainan Provincial Health Department.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.