Does preoperative enteral nutrition reduce the incidence of surgical complications in patients with Crohn's disease? A case-matched study.

Aim: Currently, the notion that preoperative optimization with enteral nutrition (EN) reduces the incidence of complication after surgery in Crohn's disease (CD) patients is being debated. This case-matched study was to evaluate the impact of preoperative EN on surgical outcomes in patients with CD.

Method: Twenty-four patients received EN therapy with an elemental diet (1800-2400 kcal/day) for at least 2 weeks before the planned surgery (EN group). A further 24 patients who underwent surgery without receiving preoperative EN or parenteral nutrition formed a control group based on four matched criteria: age (≤/>40 years), the use of preoperative medications (corticosteroids/azathioprine/biologics), disease behaviour (inflammatory/stricturing/penetrating) and main surgical procedure (ileal resection/ileocolonic resection/colectomy). The incidence of complications observed within 30 days after surgery was compared between the two groups. Septic complications were defined as anastomotic leak, intra-abdominal abscess, entero-cutaneous fistula or wound infection.

Results: In the EN group, the median serum albumin level significantly increased, while C-reactive protein (CRP) significantly decreased during the preoperative EN (albumin, from 3.0 mg/dl to 3.1 mg/dl, P = 0.04; CRP, from 3.05 mg/dl to 2.52 mg/dl, P = 0.02). The incidence of postoperative septic complications was significantly lower in the EN group compared with the control group (4% vs 25%, P = 0.04). The occurrence rate of overall complications was lower in the EN group (21% vs 29%, P = 0.51), but not statistically significant.

Conclusion: In patients with CD, preoperative optimization with EN reduced the overall rate of postoperative complications and significantly decreased postoperative septic complications.