The effects of intravenous and intraduodenal feeding on nitrogen balance after surgery

Abstract

To assess the value of nutrition in the first week after surgery, total nitrogen balance was determined in three groups of patients (two experimental, one control) undergoing vagotomy and pyloroplasty from 1 day before to 8 days after operation. In the experimental groups nutrition was maintained postoperatively by the intravenous route in one and intraduodenally in the other at a level adequate for normal non-postoperative subjects. Water and electrolyte intakes were similar in the three groups, but patients in the control group received no calories or nitrogen in the immediate postoperative period. With respect to nitrogen economy, the group fed largely by the intraduodenal route fared best. Nevertheless, nitrogen balance did not reach equilibrium until day 5 in any group, probably indicating a relative increase in protein catabolism in the early postoperative period.