2021 Volume 3 Issue 2 Pages 85-92
Objective: We conducted this study to evaluate whether early short-term (4-day) nutritional support using enteral feeding immediately after gastrectomy can improve nutritional status compared with conventional early oral feeding in patients with stomach cancer.
Methods: The medical records of 503 patients with stomach cancer who underwent gastrectomy between January 2007 and July 2018 at Asahikawa Medical University Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into the enteral nutrition (EN) group (n = 336) and oral nutrition (ON) group (n = 167). Both groups started water intake on postoperative day 2 and conventional oral feeding on postoperative day 3. In addition, the EN group received elemental formula (Elental®) immediately after surgery for 4 days via a nasojejunal feeding tube (5 Fr) that had been inserted intraoperatively. Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for any differences in baseline characteristics.
Results: On preoperative day 7, the weight loss rate was significantly lower (p < 0.001), and the transthyretin level was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in the EN group than in the ON group.
Conclusions: The addition of short-term EN immediately after gastrectomy could improve the nutritional status of patients with gastric cancer, resulting in maintenance of both body weight and the level of transthyretin in the early postoperative period.
