Association between flurbiprofen axetil use and operative complications occurring following colorectal surgery

The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the perioperative use of flurbiprofen axetil and the incidence of intestinal complications in patients undergoing radical colorectal surgery. For this purpose, the present retrospective study collected the medical records of patients who underwent their first radical colorectal surgery at Peking University People's Hospital (Beijing, China) between January 2018 and March 2022. Data included patient demographics, surgical details, intraoperative drug administration and postoperative intestinal complications. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the risk factors for intestinal complications. A total of 1,364 patients were analyzed, of whom 89 (6.5%) developed postoperative intestinal complications, including ileus (45 patients, 3.3%), anastomotic leakage (40 patients, 2.9%) and celiac fistula (9 patients, 0.7%). In total, 5 patients experienced two types of intestinal complications. Age [odds ratio (OR), 1.022; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.002-1.042; P=0.028], perioperative use of flurbiprofen axetil (OR, 2.072; 95% CI, 1.223-3.508; P=0.007), duration of surgery >3 h (OR, 2.032; 95% CI, 1.181-3.496; P=0.010) and intraoperative consumption of opioids (OR, 1.012; 95% CI, 1.003-1.022; P=0.009) were independent risk factors for postoperative intestinal complications. Overall, the present study demonstrates that age, the perioperative use of flurbiprofen axetil, the duration of surgery >3 h and high intraoperative consumption of opioids may increase the risk of developing postoperative intestinal complications in patients undergoing radical colorectal surgery.