title: Effect of early oral feeding on short-term outcome of patients receiving laparoscopic distal gastrectomy: a retrospective cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To evaluate the effect of early oral feeding on postoperative short-term outcome of gastric cancer patients receiving laparoscopic distal gastrectomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  From Oct 1, 2011 to Mar 1, 2013, 84 consecutive patients with gastric cancer were involved in this retrospective study. Patients received either early oral feeding (early feeding group) or not (control group) after laparoscopic distal gastrectomy. Details concerning the postoperative outcomes and the quality of life questionnaires were collected and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Totally 40 patients were involved in the early feeding group and 44 in the control group. Demographic data were comparable in both groups. The duration of hospital stay (6.28 ± 1.26 VS 7.69 ± 1.53, P = 0.048) and time until flatus (2.06 ± 1.47 VS 3.56 ± 1.04, P = 0.044) in early feeding group were significantly less than that in control group. Furthermore, the score of fatigue scale in early feeding group on the seventh postoperative day was significantly less than that in control group (33.9 ± 12.1 VS 45.1 ± 10.7, P = 0.041).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early oral feeding could lead to a significant improvement of the short-term benefits for patients receiving laparoscopic distal gastrectomy.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China. Electronic address: hongliu180@126.com.
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Qingchuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Jinqiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Mengbin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Kaichun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology & Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi Province, China.
authors.forename: Daiming
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004750:Enteral Nutrition; D005221:Fatigue / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011706:Pyloric Antrum / Q000601:surgery; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Distal gastrectomy; Early feeding; Gastric cancer; Laparoscopic gastrectomy; Quality of life