Recovery of Food Intake after Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer: Based on a Large-Scale Gastric Cancer Cohort.

BACKGROUND

This study was aimed at evaluating the food intake and nutritional status of patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer based on a large-scale gastric cancer cohort.

METHODS

An observational prospective cohort study for gastric cancer has been conducted since 2010. From the cohort data, we selected the data for patients who completed at least 2 days of 3-day diet diaries and who underwent subtotal gastrectomy (STG) or total gastrectomy (TG). As a control group, patients who underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection were also included. The collected diet data were converted to macro- and micronutrients using computerized software, and the nutrient intakes were compared.

RESULTS

Among 6,556 patients who participated in the cohort study from 2011 to 2016, 1,289 patients who completed at least 2 days of 3-day diet diaries were included in this study. During the postoperative 3-month period, body weight was significantly decreased in the and TG groups. However, there was no difference in nutrient intake among the 3 groups except vitamin D and calcium intake. Similar results were observed during the postoperative 12 months period.

CONCLUSIONS

Postoperative body weight loss and anemia might originate from altered absorptive function and metabolic change after gastrectomy rather than decreased nutrient intake.