Nutritional evaluation of surgical patients with gastrointestinal cancer using food supplements

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the nutrition of surgical patients with neoplasia in the gastrointestinal tract using food supplements. Method: This is a systematic literature review carried out in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scielo and Web of Science databases, from May to June 2021, without time frame or language restriction, using the descriptors: “enteral nutrition and immunenutrition”, “cancerpatients and gastriccancerpatients”, “preoperative, perioperative and postoperative”. Results: Eight studies were selected, most of which identified benefits in the use of supplementation due to the decrease in TNF-a cells, cortisol and transferrin, reducing the length of hospital stay and improving the functional status of supplemented participants. Conclusion: The findings were positive, however, there were some limitations such as heterogeneity in therapeutic approaches and loss of patients during the study, despite having a low risk of bias, there is still a need for further studies.