title: Early Oral Feeding After Surgery for Upper Gastrointestinal Malignancies: A Prospective Cohort Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Poor nutritional status following abdominal surgeries for esophageal and gastric cancers remains a major challenge in postoperative care. Our study aimed to investigate the efficacy of starting early oral feeding (EOF) in patients undergoing surgical resection of upper gastrointestinal malignancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 180 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of esophageal or gastric malignancies undergoing elective surgical resection between January 2008 and February 2011 were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Seventy-two patients were assigned to the EOF group, and 108 patients received late oral feeding (LOF). Postoperative endpoints were compared between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nasogastric tubes were removed from patients on average 3.3±1.6 days after the surgery in the EOF group and 5.2±2.5 days in the LOF group (p < 0.001). The soft diet regimen was started and tolerated significantly sooner in the EOF group (5.8±1.2 days) than the LOF group (9.5±5.5 days). Hospital stay was significantly shorter in the EOF group compared to the LOF group (6.7±3.1 days vs. 9.1±5.8 days, p < 0.001). Surgical complications and rehospitalization occurred less in EOF group compared with the LOF group. However, the differences were not significant (p > 0.050).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EOF is safe following esophageal and gastric cancer surgery and results in faster recovery and hospital discharge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shoar
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Naderan
authors.affiliation: Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Habibollah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mahmoodzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Negin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hosseini-Araghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nastaran
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mahboobi
authors.affiliation: Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Freydoon
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sirati
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Zhamak
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khorgami
keywords: Enteral Nutrition; Esophageal Cancer; Gastric Cancer; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms