Effect of immediate postoperative nutritional support on length of hospitalization

This study is a retrospective review of the effect of nutritional support on duration of hospitalization in patients undergoing radical cystectomy. Thirty-five patients were randomly assigned to receive either 5% dextrose (D₅W) solution plus electrolytes or total parenteral nutrition (TPN) following operation. The assigned nutritional regimen was continued for 1 week after operation until oral intake resumed. If the patients receiving D₅W remained incapable of oral intake after 1 week, TPN was instituted. The group receiving immediate postoperative TPN had a median duration of hospitalization of 17 days, while the median duration for the group receiving 5% dextrose solution was 24 days. All other patient characteristics, such as age, sex, stage/grade of tumor, and extent of preoperative radiotherapy, were similar in the two groups. These results demonstrate that immediate postoperative institution of nutritional support reduced hospitalization time following radical cystectomy. This indicates that the routine use of 5% dextrose as postoperative nutrition should be reevaluated.