Postoperative short-term use of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug flurbiprofen did not increase the anastomotic leakage rate in patients undergoing elective gastrointestinal surgery—a retrospective cohort study

Background Flurbiprofen has been one of the most commonly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in China and other Asian countries for perioperative multimodal analgesia in recent years, yet its association with anastomotic leakage in gastrointestinal anastomoses is unknown. The current study was designed to investigate whether short-term administration of flurbiprofen would increase the risk of anastomotic leakage in patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery for cancer resection. Methods A total of 3653 patients (2487 (66.1%) men) undergoing elective operation for gastrointestinal cancer between 18 July 2017 and 30 Oct 2020 were included. The median age was 61 years (interquartile range 53–67 years). The exposure was the short-term postoperative use of flurbiprofen (defined as flurbiprofen treatment within the first week after surgery). The primary outcome was the frequency of clinical anastomotic leakage. Results Of 3653 patients with available data who were included in the final analysis, 2282 received flurbiprofen administration, and 1371 did not. Anastomotic leakage was not significantly increased among the patients receiving flurbiprofen compared with those who did not (1.62% v 1.46%; P =0.70). In-hospital mortality was comparable between the two groups (0.04% v 0.07%; P =0.72). After adjusted analysis, male sex (OR 3.51, 95% CI 1.80–6.85), ASA score of 3–4 (OR 2.69, 95% CI 1.62–4.48), and intraoperative infusion (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.19–4.21) were identified as risk factors for anastomotic leakage. Conclusions Postoperative short-term use of flurbiprofen did not increase the risk of anastomotic leakage in gastrointestinal anastomoses.