Abstract
BackgroundInfectious complications occur in 4–22 per cent of patients undergoing surgical resection of malignant solid tumours. Improving the patient's immune system in relation to oncological surgery with immunonutrition may play an important role in reducing postoperative infections. A meta‐analysis was undertaken to evaluate the potential clinical benefits of immunonutrition on postoperative infections and 30‐day mortality in patients undergoing oncological surgery.MethodsPubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched to identify eligible studies. Eligible studies had to include patients undergoing elective curative surgery for a solid malignant tumour and receiving immunonutrition orally before surgery, including patients who continued immunonutrition into the postoperative period. The main outcome was overall infectious complications; secondary outcomes were surgical‐site infection (SSI) and 30‐day mortality, described by relative risk (RR) with trial sequential analysis (TSA). Risk of bias was assessed according to Cochrane methodology.ResultsSome 22 RCTs with 2159 participants were eligible for meta‐analysis. Compared with the control group, immunonutrition reduced overall infectious complications (RR 0·58, 95 per cent c.i. 0·48 to 0·70; I 2 = 7 per cent; TSA‐adjusted 95 per cent c.i. 0·28 to 1·21) and SSI (RR 0·65, 95 per cent c.i. 0·50 to 0·85; I 2 = 0 per cent; TSA‐adjusted 95 per cent c.i. 0·21 to 2·04). Thirty‐day mortality was not altered by immunonutrition (RR 0·69, 0·33 to 1·40; I 2 = 0 per cent).ConclusionImmunonutrition reduced overall infectious complications, even after controlling for random error, and also reduced SSI. The quality of evidence was moderate, and mortality was not affected by immunonutrition (low quality). Oral immunonutrition merits consideration as a means of reducing overall infectious complications after cancer surgery.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.