Enteral nutrition after major abdominal surgery

The effects of early enteral nutrition on the prognosis of patients after major abdominal surgery remain controversial. In this study of data from two clinical trials, 314 Chinese patients were included after major abdominal surgery. The aim was to compare the effect of early enteral nutrition and early complementary parenteral nutrition on the incidence of nosocomial infections between D3 and hospital discharge. The incidence of nosocomial infections was similar in both groups of patients. However, nutritional status was better with early enteral nutrition than with early complementary parenteral nutrition. Other endpoints were comparable between the two patient groups.