Effect of home enteral nutrition after pancreaticoduodenectomy

Providing home enteral nutrition (HEN) might prevent further deterioration of nutritional status and reduce complication risk after very invasive abdominal surgery. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of HEN after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD).

Between January 2013 and July 2016, 150 consecutive patients underwent PD. All patients received postoperative enteral nutrition until discharge. HEN (400 or 800 kcal/d) was introduced in March 2015 for patients with reduced food intake (daily, <15 kcal/kg ideal body weight) at discharge (HEN group). Patients with low intake at discharge treated before March 2015 were considered historical controls (non-HEN group). All patients received postoperative enteral nutrition until discharge. Primary outcomes measures included morbidity rate and nutritional status including body weight and blood examination from discharge until postoperative day (POD) 90.

The HEN and non-HEN groups included 24 and 39 patients, respectively. HEN was provided for a median of 68 d (range, 21-90 d) and two patients (8.4%) developed tube obstruction during HEN. The HEN group showed significantly lower rate of morbidity of Clavien-Dindo grade II from discharge to POD 90 or higher (4 of 24, 16.7% versus 17 of 39, 46.1%; P = 0.031) and significantly higher rate of increase in body weight (median: 4.9% versus -4%; P = 0.003), serum albumin levels on POD 90 (median: 3.8 versus 3.5 g/dL; P = 0.020), and prognostic nutritional index (median: 48.5 versus 42.5; P = 0.012). Multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that body weight at discharge (odds ratio [OR], 0.63; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.53-0.97) and not receiving HEN (OR, 3.86; 95% CI, 1.81-15.2) were prognostic factors for morbidity after discharge.

HEN is safe and may reduce postdischarge morbidity and improve nutritional status after PD.