EARLY REFEEDING AFTER COLORECTAL CANCER SURGERY REDUCES COMPLICATIONS AND LENGTH OF HOSPITAL STAY

Area of Science:

• Colorectal surgery
• Surgical oncology
• Postoperative care

Background:

• Multimodal recovery protocols aim to accelerate surgical patient recovery.
• Clinical practice often neglects simple interventions like early refeeding and drain use.
• Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols are not consistently applied.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the benefits of early postoperative refeeding in colorectal cancer surgery.
• To determine if preoperative patient conditions, nasogastric tubes, or abdominal drains impact recovery.
• To identify risk factors for delayed recovery and infectious complications.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study at Cascavel Uopeccan Cancer Hospital.
• Included adult cancer patients undergoing colorectal surgery (January 2018 - December 2021).
• Analyzed data from 275 patients from the Unified Health System (SUS).

Main Results:

• Early refeeding (199/275 patients) was associated with better outcomes.
• Late refeeding, nasogastric tubes, and abdominal drains increased infectious complication risk (ORs 2.1-2.72).
• Late refeeding and abdominal drains independently predicted hospital stays >5 days.

Conclusions:

• Early postoperative refeeding is crucial for reducing infectious complications.
• Late refeeding (>48h) and abdominal drains are significant risk factors for prolonged hospitalization (>5 days) in colorectal cancer patients.
• Adherence to early refeeding protocols is essential for optimizing surgical recovery.