Factors influencing the morbidity of colostomy closure.

A series consisting of 110 patients who had colostomy closure was studied in an attempt to define the role of various factors in causing colon-related morbidity. The overall complication rate was 14.5 percent (wound sepsis 11.8 percent and anastomotic leak 2.7 percent). Patient age, the underlying pathologic abnormality (trauma versus nontrauma), the type of colostomy (loop versus end colostomy), the site of the stoma (right side, left side, or transverse), whether a drain was inserted or not, and the timing of the operation did not influence morbidity. Oral preoperative antibiotics appeared to be associated with less morbidity than parenteral antibiotics (p less than 0.01), and experienced surgeons had less complications than junior surgeons (p less than 0.05).