Subcutaneous suction drains do not prevent surgical site infections in clean-contaminated abdominal surgery—results of a systematic review and meta-analysis

Purpose: The role of subcutaneous prophylactic drainage in preventing postoperative abdominal wound complications is still controversial. We aimed to elucidate whether any difference in the incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) exists between patients with or without subcutaneous suction drain following clean-contaminated abdominal surgery. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and the CENTRAL were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials (RCT) comparing drained with undrained surgeries featuring gastrointestinal (GI) tract opening. The aim of the analysis was to assess the incidence of wound infection. A meta-analysis of relevant studies was performed using RevMan 5.3. Results: A total of 8 studies, including 2833 patients, were considered eligible to collect data necessary. Globally, 187 patients (83 drained versus 104 undrained) experienced some SSI during the postoperative period. The use of subcutaneous suction drains did not exhibit any significant differences between drained and undrained patients in developing SSI (odds ratio 0.76, 95% CI 0.56–1.02; p = 0.07). Conclusions: According to the available, high-level evidence, the use of subcutaneous drains should not be encouraged on a routine basis, as it does not confer any advantage in preventing postoperative wound infection following clean-contaminated abdominal surgery. However, this does not exclude that there might be a benefit in a specific risk group of patients.