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Published on: January 19, 2024
Effect of appetite-conditioned reflex stimulation on early enteral nutrition tolerance after surgery
Y-B Sun1,2,3, Y-L Li4, W-M Li1,2,3
1Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming 650101, Yunnan Province, China.
Objective:
This study aimed to discuss the effects of appetite-conditioned reflex stimulation on the early enteral nutrition (EEN) tolerance, complications, and postoperative hospital stay in patients who underwent surgery.
Methods:
Seventy patients who underwent laparoscopic radical resection of colorectal cancer surgery in our hospital between February and December 2017 were randomly divided into a stimulated appetite group (experimental group, including visual stimulation, nasal stimulation, taste stimulation and hearing stimulation) and a control group (n = 35). Both groups received EEN. EEN tolerance, complications, and postoperative hospital stay were then compared between the groups.
Results:
Sixty-six patients, including 34 in the experimental group and 32 in the control group, completed the relevant experiment. The experimental group had significantly lower incidence rates of nausea, vomiting, bloating, use of prokinetic drugs, and gastric tube replacement (P < 0.05), and shorter tolerable regular eating time (5.0 ± 1.0 d vs 6.4 ± 1.9 d, P < 0.05) and postoperative hospital stay (7.0 ± 2.0 d vs 8.0 ± 1.8 d, P < 0.05) than the control group. No significant difference in complication rate was detected (P > 0.05).
Conclusion:
Appetite-conditioned reflex stimulation can improve EEN tolerance, decrease the risk of complications, and shorten ordinary diet recovery time and hospital stay.
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