Background: The use of glutamine and arginine has shown several advantages in postoperative outcomes in patients after gastrointestinal surgery. We determined the effects of its use in patients with enterocutaneous fistula after operative treatment.
Patients and methods: Forty patients with enterocutaneous fistula were randomly assigned to one of two groups. The control group received the standard medical care while the patients of the experimental group were supplemented with enteral administration of 4.5 g of arginine and 10 g of glutamine per day for 7 days prior to the surgery. The primary outcome variable was the recurrence of the fistula and the secondary outcomes were preoperative and postoperative serum concentrations of interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein and postoperative infectious complications.
Results: Twenty patients were assigned to each group. The fistula recurred in two patients (10%) of the experimental group and in nine patients (45%) of the control group (P < 0.001). We found a total of 13 infectious complications in six patients of the control group (all with fistula recurrence) and none in the experimental group. Mean preoperative serum concentrations of interleukin 6 and C-reactive protein were lower in patients from the experimental group. In addition, these levels were lower in patients who had recurrence if compared to patients that did not recur.
Conclusion: Preoperative administration of oral arginine and glutamine could be valuable in the postoperative recovery of patients with enterocutaneous fistulas submitted to definitive surgery.
Keywords: Arginine; Glutamine; Intestinal fistula; Postoperative complications.