Immediate postoperative feeding in urological surgery

The value of immediate postoperative enteral hyperalimentation with an elemental diet (high nitrogen Vivonex, full strength) at 125 cc per hour for 4 days was assessed in patients after radical urological surgery. Of 32 patients studied 21 received an elemental diet using a Vivonex Moss tube, which is a 3-lumen tube with esophagogastric decompression and simultaneous duodenal feeding, and the remaining 11 had a nasogastric tube only without nutritional support. We have used a selected group of parameters, including serum albumin, serum transferrin, creatinine height index, weight loss, total lymphocyte count, nitrogen balance and plasma fibronectin. All patients in the Moss tube group approached or achieved positive nitrogen balance by 4 days postoperatively, whereas the nasogastric tube group remained in negative nitrogen balance. Postoperative paralytic ileus was prevented in the majority of patients in the Moss tube group while receiving full nutritional support. We have found that the use of the Moss tube is a reasonable approach for postoperative alimentation. The tube is relatively easy to insert and well tolerated, and its use is a less expensive alternative to parenteral hyperalimentation.