Early enteral nutrition in postoperative of gastrointestinal surgery: a review

Background: The surgical patient is often at risk of malnutrition, especially when he is affected by gastrointestinal pathology. When such risk is confirmed its common to intervene with an additional nutritional support. Whenever possible, the enteric route should be privileged, once it is the most physiological, it maintains the structural and functional integrity of the intestinal barrier and it helps to stimulate the secretion of intestinal hormones, preventing the atrophy of the intestinal mucosa. Objective: To access the benefits and the safety of early enteral nutrition in the postoperative of gastrointestinal surgery. Method: Review of the literature that used the PICO methodology to compile the research question. The research was performed in CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Pubmed databases to identify studies published between 2015 and 2019. Nine randomized clinical trials and six systematic reviews were selected. Results: Most of the articles included in this review point to the benefits of early enteral in people undergoing gastrointestinal surgery, namely the rapid recovery of intestinal function and reduction in hospital stay, which in turn reduces hospital costs. Only two articles considered this nutritional approach not viable/safe due to the increase in postoperative complications in its participants. Conclusion: This review reveals that early enteral nutrition is a beneficial and safe intervention in the postoperative of gastrointestinal surgery. However, due to some limitations of the studies analyzed and given the wide range of scenarios and surgical interventions, further studies are suggested.