Preoperative single-dose methylprednisolone prevents surgical site infections after major liver resection. A randomized controlled trial.
Bressan AK, Isherwood S, Bathe OF, Dixon E, Sutherland FR, Ball C.
Ann Surg 2022; 275: 281-287.
A single preoperative dose of 500mg methylprednisolone reduced the rate of postoperative complications (31.2 versus 47.3 per cent, P=0.042), the rate of organ space site infections (6.5 versus 17.6 per cent, P=0.036) and hospital stay (8.9 versus 12.5 days, P=0.015) in this study that included 151 procedures.
Comment: This is an extraordinary result, and hard to explain on scientific grounds. Fertile ground for more research.
1 March 2022
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