Perioperative and Postoperative Continuous Nutritional Counseling Improves Quality of Life of Gastric Cancer Patient Undergoing Gastrectomy

Abstract

Post-gastrectomy syndrome (PGS) and body weight loss (BWL) decrease quality of life (QOL) and survival of the patient undergoing gastrectomy. We have introduced perioperative and post-discharge continuous nutritional counseling (CNC) to prevent BWL and improve QOL after gastrectomy. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of CNC on QOL using the Post-gastrectomy Syndrome Assessment Scale-45 (PGSAS-45). Eighty-three patients with gastric cancer (GC) who underwent curative gastrectomy between March 2018 and July 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients received either pre-discharge nutritional counseling alone (control group, n = 45) or CNC (CNC group, n = 38) after gastrectomy. QOL at 12 months after gastrectomy was compared between the two groups. In QOL assessment, change in body weight (−7.98% vs. −12.77%, p = 0.0057), ingested amount of food per meal (7.00 vs. 6.07, p = 0.042) and ability for working (1.89 vs. 2.36, p = 0.049) were significantly better in CNC group than control group. Multiple regression analysis showed that CNC was a significantly beneficial factor for abdominal pain subscale (p = 0.028), diarrhea subscale (p = 0.047), ingested amount of food per meal (p = 0.012), Ability for working (p = 0.031) and dissatisfaction at the meal (p = 0.047). Perioperative and postoperative CNC could improve QOL in the patient undergoing gastrectomy in addition to preventing postoperative BWL.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all patients who contributed their data for analysis in the present study.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, SH and SKi; methodology, SH and SKi; formal analysis, SH and SKi; writing—original draft preparation, SH; writing—review and editing, SKi; supervision, KT, AT, SKu, KN, Ska, KS and TF; project administration, RS, HK, YM, YK and ST All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Human Rights Statement

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 and later versions.

Informed Consent

Information about the aim of this retrospective study was posted on the website of the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Okayama University Hospital, and potential participants could decline to participate or opt out at any time.

Institutional Review Board Statement

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of Okayama University Hospital (No. 2001-031).” for studies involving humans.

Data Availability Statement

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article and its supplementary material files. Further enquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

The authors declare that this study was not funded externally.