METABOLIC STUDIES ON PATIENTS WITH CANCER OF THE GASTRO-INTESTINAL TRACT

Abstract

Recent investigations here and elsewhere have demonstrated that a pronounced negative nitrogen balance occurs in patients after intra-abdominal operation.¹ In most instances this nitrogen loss does not seriously affect the concentration of protein in the serum, but in patients with gastrointestinal cancer the development of significant hypoproteinemia is an almost uniform finding.² The gravity of postoperative hypoproteinemia is widely recognized, and any measures which would successfully prevent its occurrence should prove most useful. The development of postoperative hypoproteinemia in the patients with gastrointestinal cancer apparently is the result of numerous factors. Among these are that (a) frequently the patient is already hypoproteinemic when he comes to surgery, a fact which strongly suggests that his protein stores are depleted;³ (b) the functional capacity of his liver is very much impaired⁴ and therefore the fabrication of plasma albumin by this organ is likely to be limited;⁵ (c