Comparing early oral feeding with traditional oral feeding in upper gastrointestinal surgery.

Objective: Due to the lack of interest in using early oral feeding and the need for a trial study in this regard, this study aimed to compare the outcome of early oral feeding and traditional oral feeding in patients with upper gastrointestinal surgery.

Methods: Fifty-two patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal surgery were randomly assigned into two groups in a consecutive manner as either the early oral feeding group or traditional oral feeding group. Tolerance of oral feeding, ileus, nausea and vomiting, post-operative stay, and complications were recorded.

Results: Tolerance of oral feeding for the two groups was 24 (92.3%) in the early oral feeding group and 21 (91.3%) in the traditional oral feeding group (p=0.89). The post-operative hospital stays were 5.62 and 8.04 days in the early oral feeding and traditional oral feeding groups, respectively (p<0.0001). There were significant differences between the two groups in terms of the time of the first gas passing/defecation, the post-operative hospital stays, starting time of oral feeding, and satisfaction regarding early nasogastric tube removal.

Conclusions: The results of this study show that early oral feeding is a safer and more cost-effective procedure in upper gastrointestinal surgery.