PP212-SUN VALIDITY OF EARLY ENTERAL NUTRITION FOR POSTOPERATIVE ESOPHAGEAL CANCER PATIENTS

Abstract

Rationale: Early enteral nutrition, defined as starting enteral nutrition (EN) within 3 days after surgery, has become popular, because it has been revealed that early EN for surgical patients can decrease postoperative complication, reduce mortality. In the present study, we retrospectively examined EN received esophageal cancer patients to clarify the validity of early EN for postoperative course compared with delayed EN. Methods: A total of 103 patients who received thoracic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer at Niigata University Hospital during 1996 2010 were entered. The patients were divided into 2 groups; Group E contained the patients who received EN within postoperative day 3, and Group L contained the patients who received EN after postoperative day 3. The clinical factors such as days for first gas passage (Day-FGP), the dose of postoperative albumin-drug used (Dose-Alb), difference of serum albumin value between day 7 and pre-operation (Dalb), duration of systematic inflammatory response (SIRS), incidence of postoperative infectious complication (PIC), and use of total parenteral nutrition were compared between the groups. The statistical analysis were performed by Mann-Whitney U test and Chi square test. The statistical significance was defined as p < 0.05. Results: There was positive correlation between the days for EN start and Day-FGP and Dose-Alb. TPN use was less frequent in Group E compared with Group L (p < 0.0001). Moreover, Group L showed fewer days for first gas passage (p < 0.0001), lesser dose of postoperative albumin-drug used (p = 0.0002), and shorter duration of SIRS (p < 0.0013) compared with Group L. However, there was not significant difference on incidence of PIC between the 2 groups. Conclusion: Our results showed that early EN is safe and valid for postoperative esophageal cancer patients because it might decrease albumin-drug or TPN use, and promote early recovery of intestinal movement.