Enriched nutrition around digestive cancer surgery was linked to fewer complications
A review of reviews reported fewer complications and shorter hospital stays with enriched nutrition than standard care. Pneumonia results remained unclear.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
For adults undergoing digestive cancer surgery, this synthesis reported fewer infectious and noninfectious complications with enriched nutrition around the operation than with standard care. Hospital stays were also shorter. However, different nutrition protocols and patient populations were combined, leaving uncertainty about how consistently these findings apply across surgical settings.
This abstract-based summary cannot identify which formulation or schedule explains the pooled findings. The authors highlighted variation in nutrition protocols and patient populations.
What researchers found
Length of hospital stay
Nutrition around surgery versus standard care; follow-up length not reported. Pooled mean difference: -1.92 days (95% confidence interval: -2.36 to -1.48 days).
What the nutrition contained
The intervention, called immunonutrition, used formulations containing omega-3 fatty acids, arginine, nucleotides and antioxidants. The review assessed their use around surgery through outcomes including complications, hospital stay and nutritional status.
Results varied by complication
Reported improvements included fewer wound infections, urinary infections and leaks at surgical joins in the digestive tract. Pneumonia showed no statistically clear reduction, so the findings did not support improvement across every infection type.
The original publication
Perioperative Immunonutrition in Gastrointestinal Oncology: A Comprehensive Umbrella Review and Meta-Analysis on Behalf of TROGSS-The Robotic Global Surgical Society.
Goyal A, Macias CA, Corzo MP et al.
Nutrients · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40732929
- Record checked
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