Immuno-enhanced Versus Standard Early Enteral Nutrition Use in Gastrointestinal Postoperative Patients

Patients with gastrointestinal(GI) malignancy usually suffer from malnutrition and suppressed immune function, which might be worsened by major elective surgery.Enteral nutrition has been emphasized for patients with GI malignancy during the perioperative period to accelerate bowel function recovery, and improve nitrogen balance and immune response while reducing postoperative complications and hospitalization time.Early enteral nutrition(EEN) can promote the postoperative recovery of GI function and has been considered to have other advantages such as the reduction of medical cost and maintenance of intestinal barrier function. Immunonutrition containing special compounds like omega-3-unsaturated fatty acids has been put forward to modulate the immune response and improve the immune function in patients with cancer, which may have an better effect on the immune system than standard enteral nutrition. However, studies on immuno-enhanced early enteral nutrition after a resectable GI malignancy surgery are scarce.

The aim of this study was to determine whether immuno-enhanced early enteral nutrition(IEEN) is more effective than standard early enteral nutrition(SEEN) on nutritional status, immune function, surgical outcomes,time to adjuvant chemotherapy and days of hospitalization after laparoscopic GI surgery.