Reconsideration of Postoperative Oral Intake Tolerance After Pancreaticoduodenectomy Prospective Consecutive Analysis of Delayed Gastric Emptying According to the ISGPS Definition and the Amount of Dietary Intake

Objective: A prospective consecutive study was planned to evaluate the postpancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) oral intake tolerance. The occurrence of delayed gastric emptying (DGE), as defined by the International Study Group of Pancreatic Surgery (ISGPS), and the amount of dietary intake were analyzed. The risk factors for low oral intake tolerance were additionally determined. Summary Background Data: The causation of DOE after PD is still unclear. Several possible factors have been discussed, such as reconstruction methods and other complications. However, none of them has followed the definition of ISGPS. Methods: Between 2003 and 2007, 101 consecutive patients underwent PD-related surgery, and standard operative procedure was performed on 85 patients. Perioperative data were prospectively collected in all patients, and the patient's postoperative dietary intake was recorded for all meals until discharge. As an indicator of early postoperative oral intake tolerance, we added up the dietary intake from postoperative day 1 to 21 and called this value the total amount of dietary intake (TDI). The postoperative outcomes were compared between non-DOE and DGE. The high-low of TDI values was also analyzed. Multivariate analysis for factors associated with the occurrence of DOE and TDI was performed. Results: The occurrence of DOE as defined by ISGPS was 42%. The postoperative outcomes of DGE patients were significantly poor compared with those of non-DGE patients. TDI values were significantly low in DOE patients, and non-DGE patients with low TDI values showed a significantly extended duration of parenteral nutrition and postoperative hospitalization. Operative bleeding (>1,000 mL) and pancreatic fistulas were likely to be associated with DOE occurrence. Gender (women), BMI (>25 kg/m(2)), postoperative intraabdominal infection, and DOE were significantly associated with low TDI values. Conclusions: The ISGPS definition of DOE seemed feasible for patient management. TDI values provided additional information for analyzing postoperative oral intake tolerance, especially when describing the differences among non-DGE patients. Substantial risk factors for low oral intake tolerance were high BMI, postoperative intraabdominal infection, and DGE.