Abstract
At our institution, we treat the majority of patients with gastric or duodenal perforation conservatively using criteria established by us. Thus, surgery is performed in only complicated patients, and in these patients, postoperative nutritional support is of great importance. We thus retrospectively reviewed the postoperative nutritional management in patients who underwent surgery for gastric or duodenal perforation at our institution during the last three years. Of the total of 21 patients, 11 were on peripheral parenteral nutrition, 5 were on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and 5 were on enteral nutrition (EN). In 4 cases, EN was administered through a feeding jejunostomy created intraoperatively. Postoperative complications occurred in 67% of all cases, and anastomotic leak occurred in 4 cases. Oral meals were started on postoperative day 12, on average. Of those with anastomotic leakage, EN was administered in 2 patients who resumed oral intake earlier than the other 2 patients on TPN. Hospital stay was also shorter in the EN group. The majority of the patients are treated conservatively at our institution, the patients who are operated upon have a high postoperative morbidity rate and need prolonged hospitalization. Postoperative nutritional support is essential in these groups of patients and intraoperative feeding jejunostomy placement appears to be a good option for postoperative nutritional support.
