[Enteral tube feeding of patients after esophagoplasty]

A method for enteral catheter feeding is suggested. It was applied in 60 patients after esophagoplasty. The main group consisted of 23 females and 37 males aged from 18 to 68 years. Esophageal carcinoma was observed in 31, burn stricture of the esophagus 18, and other benign diseases of the esophagus in 11 cases. All patients were subjected to extirpation of the esophagus with one-stage posteromedial esophagoplasty in 57 patients with an isoperistaltic gastric tube and in 3 patients with the colon. The control group was formed of 20 patients who underwent the same operations. Inpitan, ovolact, and hypernutril were used for enteral catheter feeding. The catheter was introduced via the nasal passage and transplant into the proximal segment of the jejunum. The mixtures were administered in drops of 5 to 7 days after the operation. Only parenteral feeding was conducted in the control group. The disorders of the alimentary status were removed quicker in patients of the main group than in the control and the incidence of postoperative complications was less. Body weight and the nitrogen balance were restored within a shorter time in the main group patients and incompetence of the esophageal anastomoses developed in a lesser number of cases.