[The effect of preoperative parenteral nutrition on the perioperative course in patients with esophageal cancer].

In 35 consecutive patients who underwent esophagectomy for malignancy the nutritional status was evaluated. 15 patients were estimated to be malnourished and were therefore treated by total parental nutrition (TPN) for 7 days. In the control group (n = 20, no TPN) the nutritional status was normal. TPN corrected abnormal serum parameters with short half-life time. Therefore the nutritional status of both groups was equal at time of operation. The postoperative clinical outcome of both groups was as follows: In TPN-treated patients postoperative hospital stay for 26 days was shorter compared to 32 days in controls, no patients died (vs n = 4), no patient developed sepsis (vs n = 4), no patient developed acute renal failure (vs n = 3). These differences did not reach levels of significance due to the small patient groups. In conclusion our study shows that patients with esophageal cancer and regarded as well nourished seemed to suffer from nutritional deficits. Assessment of the nutritional status by commonly used nutritional parameters does not reveal these deficits.