The effect of early enteral nutrition on chemotherapeutic complications and nutritional status of patients with digestive tract cancer under nutritional screening

Objective To explore the effect of early enteral nutrition on chemotherapeutic complications and nutritional status of patients with digestive tract cancer. Methods From January 2015 to January 2016, 108 patients with digestive tract tumors treated in our hospital were selected, and nutritional risk screening 2002 (NRS2002) was used to assess the risk of the patients. A total of 98 patients with nutritional risk were randomly divided into the routine group (49 cases) and the observation group (49 cases), and were given delayed and early enteral nutrition respectively after the operation. Both groups were followed up for 1 year, while the nutritional status, immune function, postoperative recovery situation, chemotherapeutic complications and chemotherapy termination situation were compared between the two groups before and after chemotherapy. Results Two weeks after chemotherapy, the weight, TP, ALB, HB and skin fold thickness in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). The levels of CD4⁺, CD8⁺, CD4⁺/CD8⁺, IgG and IgA in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). The postoperative bowel sound recovery time, anus exhaust time, out-of-bed activity time and hospitalization time were significantly lower than those of the control group (all P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of anastomotic infection and bleeding between the two groups (all P>0.05); The incidence of complications after chemotherapy in the observation group was lower than that in the conventional group (8.16% vs. 28.57%, P=0.029).The termination rate of chemotherapy in the observation group was significantly lower than that in the conventional group [HR=0.396,95% CI (0.195, 0.803), P=0.011]. Conclusion If the patients after digestive tract tumor surgery were given early enteral nutrition under nutritional screening, it can improve the nutritional status, enhance the immune function, shorten the hospitalization time, reduce the incidence of chemotherapy complications and improve the tolerance of chemotherapy.