Jejunostomy feeding plus oral feeding versus intravenous nutrition plus oral feeding after esophageal cancer resection: a comparative retrospective cohort study.

Abstract

Background: There are multiple choices for the nutritional management mode after esophageal cancer surgery. Currently, there is still controversy regarding which nutritional management mode has an impact on the postoperative recovery and overall survival (OS) of patients. This study aims to compare the differences between two commonly used clinical nutritional management modes: jejunostomy feeding plus oral intake (JF plus OI) and intravenous nutrition plus oral intake (IN plus OI), in terms of short-term efficacy and 3-year OS, in order to further explore the optimal mode of enteral nutrition management after esophageal cancer surgery.

Methods: We evaluated esophageal cancer patients who underwent radical surgery at Union Hospital of Fujian Medical University between January 1, 2010 and January 1, 2020. The purpose of this analysis was to compare the perioperative complications, Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS2002) nutritional scores at 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery, as well as the 3-year OS rates, between two different nutritional management approaches: JF plus OI and IN plus OI following esophageal cancer surgery.

Results: Among the 822 patients included, 668 and 154 patients belonged to JF plus OI and IN plus OI groups, respectively. After propensity score matching, 149 patients per group were evaluated. The amount of gastric drainage fluid was higher in the IN plus OI group (P<0.05), and the incidence of postoperative gastrointestinal emptying disorder and intestinal obstruction was significantly higher in the JF plus OI group (P<0.05). The IN plus OI group had a higher incidence of perioperative hypoproteinemia (P<0.05), and a higher risk of malnutrition in 2 weeks after surgery (P<0.05). The 3-year OS was not significantly different (P>0.05).

Conclusions: JF plus OI may be the preferable nutritional management approach after esophageal cancer resection as it can potentially reduce perioperative nutritional deficiency. However, attention should be paid to the risk of gastrointestinal emptying and intestinal obstruction associated with JF.