Research paper
Immunonutrition for patients undergoing surgery for head and neck cancer.
Study answer
What this study found
Immunonutrition may reduce fistula formation by about half, but there is no clear evidence that it reduces length of hospital stay, wound infections, or mortality. Tolerance and adverse events appeared similar between immunonutrition and standard feeding. Benefits did not consistently differ between preoperative plus postoperative regimens and postoperative-only regimens. Overall evidence quality was low to very low, so the clinical effect remains uncertain despite a possible benefit for fistula prevention.
- Study & population
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials in adults undergoing elective surgery for head and neck cancer, including cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx.
- Intervention
- Immunonutrition was given as perioperative enteral or oral feeding formulas enriched mainly with arginine, omega-3 fatty acids, and often RNA/nucleotides; some trials also used glutamine-containing products.
- Key limitation
- The evidence base was small, heterogeneous, and inconsistently reported, with low to very low certainty overall.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Patients with head and neck cancer are often malnourished. Surgery for such cancers is complex and may be undertaken after a course of radiotherapy. As a result, patients may have postoperative complications such as fistulae and wound infe…