Post Operative Advantages of Early Enteral Feeding Over Traditional Feeding After Colostoimy Closure in Pediatric Patients

The traditional practice of postoperative starvation after abdominal surgery recently has been challenged. Early enteral feeding has been shown by various clinical trials as having benefits in reduction of postoperative ileus and Hospital stay. Application of this concept to pediatric colonic surgery has not been reported. So comparing postoperative experience between early and traditional enteral feeding after colostomy closure to show the postoperative advantages of the former over the later. It is a prospective comparative study at Dhaka Medical College Hospital during July 2005 to September 2006 in 25 (age. body weight, colostomy site, operation time and follow-up duration matched) patients of colostomy closure divided in two Groups: Gr.l = II) and Gr. 11 (n = 14) patients under went traditional enteral feeding and early enteral feeding in postoperative period respectively. Unpaired 'r' tests was used for statistical analysis. Postoperative hospital stay and postoperative complication such as vomiting, diarrhea, wound disruption were assessed Lower gastrointestinal (0.1) bleeding, Urinary tract infection (UTI), Upper respiratory tract infection (URT1) and unspecified fever more than 48 hours were used as parameters of the study. For study Group 11 (Early Enteral Feeding Patients) postoperative hospital stay and postoperative complication such as vomiting, diarrhea, wound disruption. lower G.I bleeding, UTI, URTI and unspecified fever more than 48 hours were significantly lesser than the control Group I (Traditional Enteral Feeding Patients). Parents were also found to be mare satisfied with early enteral feeding in postoperative period. Through this post operative comparative study, early enteral feeding patients were found to be more advantageous than the traditional feeding patients undergoing colostomy closure.