Perioperative nutrition: Recommendations from the ESPEN expert group

Area of Science:

• Clinical Nutrition
• Surgical Metabolism
• Patient Outcomes

Background:

• Malnutrition is a significant risk factor for adverse postoperative outcomes.
• The ESPEN Symposium focused on the nutritional and metabolic management of surgical patients.
• Expert opinions and evidence guide perioperative nutritional strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the scientific basis for nutritional and metabolic management in surgical patients.
• To present the current state of the art in perioperative nutrition.
• To provide expert consensus on optimizing surgical patient care.

Main Methods:

• Expert opinion and patient/caregiver input.
• Review of current evidence on perioperative nutrition.
• Multidisciplinary approach to surgical patient management.

Main Results:

• Surgical patients exhibit diverse nutritional issues including malnutrition, sarcopenia, and obesity.
• Preoperative optimization, fluid therapy, and glycemic control are vital.
• Pharmaconutrition, pre-, pro-, and syn-biotics show promise, especially in GI cancer surgery.

Conclusions:

• Comprehensive nutritional assessment and intervention are essential for surgical patients.
• Restoring energy deficits, preventing weight loss, and preserving gut health improve outcomes.
• Functional performance and metabolic conditioning are key components of surgical patient care.