Early Oral Feeding After Surgery for Upper Gastrointestinal Malignancies: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Objectives: Poor nutritional status following abdominal surgeries for esophageal and gastric cancers remains a major challenge in postoperative care. Our study aimed to investigate the efficacy of starting early oral feeding (EOF) in patients undergoing surgical resection of upper gastrointestinal malignancies.

Methods: A total of 180 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of esophageal or gastric malignancies undergoing elective surgical resection between January 2008 and February 2011 were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Seventy-two patients were assigned to the EOF group, and 108 patients received late oral feeding (LOF). Postoperative endpoints were compared between the two groups.

Results: Nasogastric tubes were removed from patients on average 3.3±1.6 days after the surgery in the EOF group and 5.2±2.5 days in the LOF group (p < 0.001). The soft diet regimen was started and tolerated significantly sooner in the EOF group (5.8±1.2 days) than the LOF group (9.5±5.5 days). Hospital stay was significantly shorter in the EOF group compared to the LOF group (6.7±3.1 days vs. 9.1±5.8 days, p < 0.001). Surgical complications and rehospitalization occurred less in EOF group compared with the LOF group. However, the differences were not significant (p > 0.050).

Conclusions: EOF is safe following esophageal and gastric cancer surgery and results in faster recovery and hospital discharge.