[The strategy against post-operative infection in the patients with esophageal cancer]

Post-operative infection with esophageal cancer patients was investigated. The subjects were 325 esophageal cancer patients. The most frequent infectious complication after the surgery was pneumonia, followed by anastomosis between the cervical esophagus and plastic stomach tube. The bacteria frequently found in infectious lesions were pseudomonas or staphylococcus. The more severe infection the patients had, the more gram negative bacteria were found. Bacterial examination during operation showed that more than 80% bacteria was gram negative. Since esophageal cancer patients had a low nutritional state, their immune function was impaired and infection was apt to occur post-operatively. Therefore, special nutritional care was indispensible, such as essential fatty acid, BCAA, and glutamine supplementation.