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Enteral vs Parenteral Nutrition After Major Abdominal Surgery: An Even Match
Author(s) -
Bossola M,
Pacelli F,
Papa V.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
nutrition in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1941-2452
pISSN - 0884-5336
DOI - 10.1177/011542650201700144
Subject(s) - medicine , parenteral nutrition , enteral administration , abdominal surgery , surgery , randomized controlled trial , prospective cohort study
Hypothesis: Immediate enteral feeding following major abdominal surgery reduces postoperative complications and mortality when compared with parenteral nutrition. Design: A prospective multicenter randomized trial. Setting: A university hospital department of digestive surgery. Patients and Interventions: Two hundred forty‐one malnourished patients undergoing major elective abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to receive, after surgery, either enteral (enteral nutrition group: 119 patients) or parenteral nutrition (total parenteral nutrition group: 122 patients). The patients were monitored for postoperative complications and mortality. Results: The rate of major postoperative complications was similar in the enteral and parenteral groups (enteral nutrition group: 37.8%; total parenteral nutrition group: 39.3%; P was not significant), as were the overall postoperative mortality rates (5.9% and 2.5%, respectively; P was not significant). Conclusions: The present study failed to demonstrate that enteral feeding following major abdominal surgery reduces postoperative complications and mortality when compared with parenteral nutrition.