Enteral nutrition with supplemental arginine, RNA, and omega-3 fatty acids in patients after operation: immunologic, metabolic, and clinical outcome. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • The individual nutrients arginine, RNA, and omega-3 fatty acids improve immune function, but prospective trials have not demonstrated their effects on clinical outcome. Patients (n = 85) who underwent operation for upper gastrointestinal malignancies were randomized to receive the supplemental diet or a standard enteral diet after surgery. Clinical patient characteristics were similar between the two groups. Mean caloric intakes (1421 vs 1285 kcal/day) were similar between groups. Mean nitrogen intakes (15.6 vs 9.0 gm/day) and nitrogen balances (-2.2 vs -6.6 gm/day) measured in the first 20 patients were significantly greater in the supplemented group than in the standard group (p = 0.05). In vitro lymphocyte mitogenesis was measured in the first 31 patients and was decreased on postoperative day 1 in both groups, but normal levels were regained only in the supplemented group. In the cohort of 77 eligible patients, infectious and wound complications occurred significantly less often (11% vs 37%) in the supplemented group than in the standard group (p = 0.02). Linear logistic models for infectious/wound complications with control for the amount of nitrogen suggested (p = 0.10) dietary treatment as the major factor. Mean length of stay in the hospital was significantly shorter (p = 0.01) for the supplemented group (15.8 +/- 5.1 days) than for the standard group (20.2 +/- 9.4 days). These results suggest that postoperative enteral nutrition with supplemental arginine, RNA, and omega-3 fatty acids instead of a standard enteral diet significantly improved immunologic, metabolic, and clinical outcomes in patients with upper gastrointestinal malignancies who were undergoing major elective surgery.

publication date

  • July 1, 1992

Research

keywords

  • Amino Acids
  • Arginine
  • Enteral Nutrition
  • Fatty Acids, Omega-3
  • Gastrointestinal Neoplasms
  • Lymphocytes
  • Nitrogen
  • Nutritional Status
  • RNA

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 0026663812

PubMed ID

  • 1377838

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 112

issue

  • 1