title: An unblinded randomised controlled trial of preoperative oral supplements in colorectal cancer patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Perioperative oral supplementation has been shown to reduce post-operative complications. However, the use of preoperative standard oral supplements in a cohort of colorectal cancer patients has not been evaluated. The present study examined whether preoperative supplements are beneficial in this group.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a randomised controlled trial, patients were assigned to receive 400 mL of oral supplement and dietary advice or dietary advice alone. Primary outcome was the number of post-operative complications. One hundred and twenty-five patients were recruited (59 randomised to the intervention group and 66 to the control group) and nine were excluded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the intervention group, 24 (44%) patients had a complication compared to 26 (42%) in the control group (P = 0.780). In the intervention and control groups, there were eight (15%) and 16 (25%) surgical site infections, respectively (P = 0.140) and seven (13%) and 11 (17%) chest infections, respectively (P = 0.470). Subgroup analysis for hypothesis generation included 83 (71%) weight-losing patients, where there was a significant reduction in surgical site infections using the Buzby definition (P = 0.034), although this was not the case for the Centre for Disease Control definition (P = 0.052).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no evidence that preoperative supplements were beneficial in reducing the number of complications, although there may be some benefit for surgical site infections in selected weight-losing preoperative patients.
authors.affiliation: Dietetic Service, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK. sorrel.burden@manchester.ac.uk
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Burden
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Shaffer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Todd
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004046:Dietetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000628:therapy*; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015431:Weight Loss