Objective  To investigate the effect of preoperative oral probiotic complex on infectious complications in colorectal cancer patients.

Methods  80 patients who were proposed to undergo radical surgery for colorectal cancer were selected as the study subjects and were divided into the control group and the experimental group according to the order of admission. 11 days before surgery, patients in the experimental group were orally administered with probiotic complex, and patients in the control group were orally administered with maltodextrin once in the morning and once in the evening every d for 10 days. The changes in nutritional status, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), serum albumin, and transferrin of patients in the two groups were detected and compared. The differences in infectious and non-infectious complications and postoperative length of stay in the two groups of patients in the 30 days of postoperative period were compared.

Results  4 patients were excluded because they did not follow the study plan or did not adhere to the completion of the treatment, and 76 patients were finally included, with 38 in each group. After intervention, the RNS2002 scores of the two groups were significantly reduced (P<0.05), and the TRF level in the experimental group was significantly higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). After the intervention, CRP and the levels of IL-6 of the patients in both group were decreased, and they were lower in the experimental group than those in the control group (P<0.05). The incidence of infectious complications in the experimental group within 30 d after surgery was significantly lower than that in the control group (2.6% vs. 15.8%, P=0.04), and the duration of postoperative hospitalisation was shorter than that of the control group [(3±1) d vs. (5±13) d, P=0.025], during the period of the study, there was no death of patients in either group.

Conclusion  In patients undergoing radical surgery for colorectal cancer, preoperative use of probiotic complex for 10 d can effectively regulate the state of preoperative intestinal flora, reduce postoperative infectious complications, shorten postoperative hospitalisation time, and improve the safety and quality of surgery, which is worthy of clinical promotion and application.

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