Effects of prolonged stay in hospital on gastric flora

Objective: To find out if a long preoperative stay in hospital results in the introduction of micro-organisms into the gastric flora that are resistant to the usual perioperative chemoprophylaxis.Design: Observational study.Setting: Teaching hospital, Greece.Subjects: 145 consecutive patients admitted for abdominal or pelvic operations.Interventions: Aspiration of gastric fluid for measurement of pH and culture.Main outcome measures: Growth and type of pathogens in gastric aspirate.Results: 125 patients spent a mean (range) of 13.6 days (7-69) in hospital preoperatively and 20 patients spent 3.1 (1-7) days. In the long-stay group 103 had a gastric pH of <4 and in 22 it was 4 or more; in 40 patients pathogens were grown from the gastric aspirate but resistant Pseudomonas cepacia was grown from only 2. In the short-stay group 16 patients had a pH of <4 and in 4 it was 4 or more; in 4 patients pathogens were grown from the aspirate.Conclusion: Prolonged stay in hospital preoperatively does not seem to affect...