Objective: This study of 45 patients aimed to retrospectively examine whether the relationships among the postoperative to preoperative body weight ratio (BWR), meal intake as a good indicator of quality of l ife (QOL), and absorptive kinetics from the small intestine could be expressed by the acetaminophen (AAP) concentration.
Methods: The postoperative/preoperative BWR and meal intake ratio (MIR) were evaluated in 30 patients who underwent open distal gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer (ODG group) and 15 patients who underwent laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer (LPG group). In addition, all patients underwent functional evaluation using the AAP method. Correlation coefficients of the BWR and MIR with the plasma AAP concentration after meal intake were evaluated.
Results: There was a negative correlation between the AAP concentration at 15 min and the BWR in all patients (r = -0.438, P = 0.00259, n = 45) and a weak negative correlation between the AAP concentration at 15 min and the MIR (r = -0.309, P = 0.0368, n = 45).
Conclusions: There were some relationships between slow intestinal absorption in the early postprandial phase and the maintenance of postoperative body weight and meal intake. Namely, operative methods that maintained preoperative slow intestinal absorption were thought to be better for maintaining postoperative QOL.