J Gastric Cancer.  2011 Jun;11(2):101-108.

Feasibility Study of Early Oral Intake after Gastrectomy for Gastric Carcinoma

• Jo DH
• Jeong O
• Sun JW
• Jeong MR
• Ryu SY
• Park YK

Abstract

PURPOSE
Despite the compelling scientific and clinical data supporting the use of early oral nutrition after major gastrointestinal surgery, traditional bowel rest and intravenous nutrition for several postoperative days is still being used widely after gastric cancer surgery.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A phase II study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility and safety of postoperative early oral intake (water intake on postoperative days (POD) 1-2, and soft diet on POD 3) after a gastrectomy. The primary outcome was morbidity within 30 postoperative days, which was targeted at <25% based on pilot study data.
RESULTS
The study subjects were 90 males and 42 females with a mean age 61.5 years. One hundred and four (79%) and 28 (21%) patients underwent a distal and total gastrectomy, respectively. The postoperative morbidity rate was within the targeted range (15.2%, 95% CI, 10.0~22.3%), and there was no hospital mortality. Of the 132 patients, 117 (89%) successfully completed a postoperative early oral intake regimen without deviation; deviation in 10 (8%) due to gastrointestinal symptoms and in five (4%) due to the management of postoperative complications. The mean times to water intake and a soft diet were 1.0+/-0.2 and 3.2+/-0.7 days, respectively, and the mean hospital stay was 10.0+/-6.1 days.
CONCLUSIONS
Postoperative early oral intake after a gastrectomy is feasible and safe, and can be adopted as a standard perioperative care after a gastrectomy. Nevertheless, further clinical trials will be needed to evaluate the benefits of early oral nutrition after upper gastrointestinal surgery.

Keyword

Postoperative care; Gastrectomy; Stomach neoplasms

MeSH Terms

Diet
Drinking
Feasibility Studies
Female
Gastrectomy
Hospital Mortality
Humans
Length of Stay
Male
Perioperative Care
Pilot Projects
Postoperative Care
Postoperative Complications
Stomach Neoplasms

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