Effect of Enteral Nutrition on Immune Function after Esophagectomy of Esophaged Carcinama

Objective To study the effect of enteral nutrition on immune function of patients after esophagectomy.Methods Sixty patients who underwent surgery for esophageal cancer were randomized into parenteral nutrition(PN) group(n=30) or enteral nutrition(EN) group(n=30).From the 1st day after operation,the patients received either parenteral nutrition or enteral nutrition,with an isocaloric and isonitrogenous for one week.Host immunity was evaluated by IgA,IgG,IgM,total lymphocytes,B-lymphocytes,CD_3,CD_4,CD_8,CD_4/CD_8,NK cell activity on preoperative 1 day,postoperative 1 day and 9 day.Results 60 cases completed the study.On postoperative 9 day,there was no significant difference in B-lymphocytes,but the levels of IgA,IgG,IgM,CD_3,CD_4,CD_4/CD_8,total lymphocytes were significantly higher and CD_8 was significantly lower in the study group than in the control group.Conclusion Compared with the parenteral nutrition,enteral nutrition can improve obviously the immunity function in patients undergoing surgery for esophageal cancer.