Whole gut irrigation with saline, tinidazole and colistin before colorectal operations.

To date, 27 patients scheduled for colorectal operations have had their bowels prepared the day before operation by whole gut irrigation with up to 151 of an electrolyte solution (14 patients), while the other 13 patients had infused in addition 0.51 of a solution containing 500 mg tinidazole and 1 MIU colistin. During the operation, samples were taken from the abdominal and perineal operation wounds and the colorectal mucosa by a velvet pad rinse technique, which involved transportation in a CO2-atmosphere and cultivation in an anaerobic cabinet. The number of anaerobic bacteria present in the colon was significantly lower after the use of antimicrobials, while there was no such difference with regard to aerobic bacteria. There were no differences between the two groups in preclosure bacterial densities of abdominal and perineal wounds. The total number of bacteria inoculated, the wound inoculum, was considerably lower after antimicrobial administration. There were no infections in the 13 patients treated with these antimicrobials, while 4 out of the 14 patients in the control group developed infections.