Objective: To study the effect of enteral nutrition via jejunostomy catheter on the quality of life in gastric cancer patients who have undergone gastrectomy.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data of 104 consecutive patients who had undergone curative resection for gastric cancer in Peking Union Medical College Hospital in 2011.All data were obtained from a prospectively maintained database of gastric cancer.The quality of life was compared between jejunostomy tube group(n=49)and tube-free group(n=55).
Results: The two groups were matched in gender,age,tumor size,tumor location,histological type,pTNM stage,type of surgery,body mass index(BMI),quality of life scales,and cycles of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy(all P>0.05).Also,the global health status(P=0.154),physical function score(P=0.321),role function score(P=0.492),and fatigue symptom score(P=0.845)were not significantly different between these two groups one month after surgery.Three and 6 months after the surgery,patients in the jejunostomy tube group had significantly higher overall health status scores( P<0.001,P=0.038),physical function scores(P=0.004,P=0.005),and role function scores(P=0.002,P=0.038)and significantly lower fatigue symptom scores(P=0.020,P=0.043)when compared to patients from tube-free group.
Conclusion: Enteral nutrition via jejunostomy catheter can improve the quality of life of gastric cancer patients who have undergone gastrectomy.