The following is a summary of “Prospective Randomized Trial of Immediate Postoperative Use of Regular Diet Versus Clear Liquid Diet in Major Colorectal Surgery,” published in the December 2023 issue of Gastroenterology by Yao, et al.
After big colon surgery, it is becoming normal to follow better healing plans. More and more evidence shows that early eating should be supported. However, it was not clear whether a clear liquid diet or a solid diet should be given right after surgery. Check to see if a normal diet is better than a clear liquid diet starting on the first day after major colon surgery. Eligible patients either started on a clear liquid diet on day 0 after surgery and moved on to a regular diet on day 1, or they started on a regular diet on day 0 after surgery and kept it up for the rest of their recovery.
Diet tolerance, which was described as not throwing up by day 2 after surgery, was the main outcome. Randomly, 105 patients were put into two groups: 53 were put in the clear liquid diet group, and 52 were put in the usual food group. The study included all of the patients who were chosen at random.
By the second day after surgery, the rate of food endurance was the same in both groups. The rates of ileus, antiemetic use, opioid use, time to return of bowel function, and pain, sickness, and bloating levels were about the same in both groups. On the first day after surgery, 91% of patients in the clear liquid diet group were able to keep up with their food, compared to 71% of patients in the regular diet group (P = 0.01). Diet tolerance was only checked on people who were hospitalized. It was hard to get a good idea of the rate of postpartum ileus because its clinical description included a lot of different symptoms. When it came to diet adaptation by day 2, a regular diet right after abdominal colon surgery was not better than a clear liquid diet. Also, starting a regular diet on the first day after surgery did not improve outcomes compared to starting a clear liquid diet.
Source: journals.lww.com/dcrjournal/abstract/2023/12000/prospective_randomized_trial_of_immediate.14.aspx
