A prospective, randomized controlled trial of the use of an anal purse-string suture to decrease contamination during pelvic reconstructive surgery

The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical utility of an anal purse-string suture to prevent contamination of the operative field during vaginal surgery. Patients undergoing vaginal surgery involving the posterior compartment were enrolled to receive a purse-string suture closing the anus (group 1) or to not receive the suture (group 2). Perineal/perianal cultures were performed after sterile preparation and at conclusion of surgery. The primary outcome measure was gross fecal contamination. Secondary outcomes were results of perineal cultures. Continuous and ordinal variables were compared between groups using Wilcoxon rank sum tests, while comparisons of binary variables were performed using exact unconditional tests. Forty (40) patients were randomized. There were no significant differences in the two groups including age (P = 0.95), parity (P = 0.40), operative time (P = 0.75), and estimated blood loss (P = 0.81). Gross contamination rates were 0/40 (0%) for group 1 and 5/19 (26.3%) for group 2 (P = 0.015). Contamination by fecal flora occurred in 2/20 (10%) for group 1 and in 5/20 (25%) for group 2 (P = 0.27). No wound infections, graft erosions, or healing abnormalities were noted in either group. An anal purse-string suture is an effective way of reducing fecal contamination of the sterile field when performing vaginal pelvic reconstructive surgery.