Onkológia 5/2011

Enteral nutrition in surgery

Enteral feeding provides physiologic, metabolic, safety, and cost benefits over parenteral nutrition. There are various ways enteral nutritional is administered and scheduled. The method of administration must be individualized to each patient's specific needs. Enteral nutrition is not only the supply of exogenous substrates and to prevent depletion of endogenous sources. Today the enteral nutrition becomes part of a therapeutic strategy to influence the severity of the disease to affect the function of GIT, and to modulate immune responses of the gut and the whole organism. Early enteral nutrition in the postoperative period reduces the risk of infectious complications.

Keywords: enteral nutrition, surgery, complications of enteral nutrition.