Effects of comprehensive nutrition support on immune function, wound healing, hospital stay, and mental health in gastrointestinal surgery.

Abstract

Background: Postoperative patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery often encounter challenges such as low immune function, delayed wound healing owing to surgical trauma, and increased nutritional demands during recovery.

Aim: To assess the effect of comprehensive nutritional support program on immune function and wound healing in patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery.

Methods: This retrospective comparative study included 60 patients who underwent gastrointestinal surgery, randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 30) or the control group (n = 30). The experimental group received comprehensive nutritional support, including a combination of enteral and parenteral nutrition, whereas the control group received only conventional comprehensive nutritional support. Evaluation indicators included immune function markers (e.g., white blood cell count, lymphocyte subsets), wound healing (wound infection rate, healing time), pain score [visual analog scale (VAS) score], and psychological status (anxiety score, depression score) 7 days post-surgery) and duration of stay.

Results: The immune function of patients in the experimental group was significantly better than that in the control group. The white blood cell count was 8.52 ± 1.19 × 10⁹/L in the experimental group vs 6.74 ± 1.31 × 10⁹/L (P < 0.05). The proportion of CD4+ T cells was higher in the experimental group (40.09% ± 4.91%) than that in the control group (33.01% ± 5.08%) (P < 0.05); the proportion of CD8+ T cells was lower (21.79% ± 3.38% vs 26.29% ± 3.09%; P < 0.05). The CD4+/CD8+ ratio was 1.91 ± 0.32 in the experimental group whereas 1.13 ± 0.23 in the control group (P < 0.05). The wound infection rate of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (10% vs 30%, P < 0.05), and the wound healing time was shorter (10.35 ± 2.42 days vs 14.42 ± 3.15 days, P < 0.05). The VAS score of the experimental group was 3.05 ± 1.04, and that of the control group was 5.11 ± 1.09 (P < 0.05); the anxiety score (Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale) was 8.88 ± 1.87, and that of the control group was 12.1 ± 3.27 (P < 0.05); the depression score (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) was 7.37 ± 1.41, and that of the control group was 11.79 ± 2.77 (P < 0.05). In addition, the hospitalization time of the experimental group was significantly shorter than that of the control group (16.16 ± 3.12 days vs 20.93 ± 4.84 days, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: A comprehensive nutritional support program significantly enhances immune function, promote wound healing, reduces pain, improves psychological status, and shortens hospitalization stays in patients recovering from gastrointestinal surgery.