Effect of early stepwise nutrition management on feeding tolerance of postoperative patients with gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND

Postoperative nutritional management of gastric cancer (GC) remains a problem that needs to be solved in clinical treatment.

AIM: To develop an early graded nutrition management plan and evaluate its impact on feeding tolerance, nutritional status, and prognosis.

METHODS

In total, 142 patients who underwent laparoscopic radical gastrectomy at Jiujiang University Affiliated Hospital between August 2021 and August 2022 were included in this study. Based on postoperative nutritional management and feeding, the patients were divided into observation and control groups. The general information questionnaire, Visual Analog Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were used to evaluate pain and sleep of patients, respectively. Independent sample t-test and χ 2 test were used to analyze differences between groups.

RESULTS

The feeding intolerance rates in the control and observation groups were 13.2% and 4.1%, respectively. Hospitalization time and first defecation times in the observation group were shorter than those in the control group. Hemoglobin, prealbumin, transferrin, and immunological indices in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group 7 days after surgery, whereas calcitonin levels were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). In general, the nutritional status of the observation group was better than that of the control group, and pain and sleep quality scores improved.

CONCLUSION

Compared with the conventional postoperative feeding, early stepwise nutritional management can significantly enhance the nutritional status of patients with GC after surgery, improve their feeding tolerance, and reduce postoperative complications.