Postoperative Anti-infective Strategy Following Pancreaticoduodenectomy in Patients With Preoperative Biliary Stent

This study is about making a big operation called a pancreaticoduodenectomy (often called a Whipple procedure) safer and more effective. This surgery treats conditions around the pancreas, like certain cancers. It's a very complicated operation, and unfortunately, patients can sometimes get infections afterwards. These infections can make recovery harder and sometimes lead to serious problems.

One common reason for infections after this surgery is if a patient had a small tube, called a stent, placed in their bile duct before the operation. This stent helps with drainage but can also introduce germs into the bile. These germs can then increase the risk of infection during or after the surgery. Doctors already use antibiotics to try and prevent infections, but they're still working out the best way to give them.

This research is comparing two different ways of using a strong antibiotic called Piperacillin-Tazobactam. One group of patients will receive a single dose of this antibiotic just before surgery, called 'antibiotic prophylaxis,' which is a standard way to prevent infections during operations. Another group will receive the same antibiotic for 5 days after their surgery. The main aim is to find out if taking antibiotics for 5 days after the operation is better at stopping infections, especially around the surgical site, compared to just the single dose given before.