Nutritional Assistance by Software Improves Surgical Outcomes of Elective Colorectal Surgery

Abstract

Objective The present study analyzes nutrition support in a group of patients undergoing colorectal surgery managed by nutritional requirement software compared to a group of consecutive patients undergoing colorectal surgery with conventional nutrition Materials and Methods A total of 485 patients were treated between January 2000 and January 2013 with colorectal resection. Outcomes (mortality, morbidity according to Clavien classification, length of hospital stay, type of colorectal disease) in a group of patients who received nutrition support through software (SG) were compared to those in a previous series, control group (CG) with conventional nutrition support Results Of the patients, 59.6% were men and the median age of the population was 68.2 years (range, 19–95 years), with no difference between the 2 groups. There were significantly more malnourished patients in the SG group (SG 63.8% versus 45.2% CG; P < 0.0001). The overall mortality was 2.1% lower in the SG group, but without a significant difference (SG 0.7% versus 2.7% CG). There were more severe stage III to IV complications according to Clavien classification in the SG group (SG 10.7 GC versus 17% NS), with significantly greater collections (SG 8% versus 16.9% CG; P = 0.015) and greater anastomotic leaks (SG 4% versus 13.9% CG; P < 0.001). The median hospital stay was lower in the SG group (SG 12 days versus 15 days CG; P = 0.049). Conclusion The proposed software could contribute to optimizing the strategy of nutritional support in hospitalized patients.