Prospective Study of the Effect of Perioperative Immunonutrition on the Immune Host Defense and the Phagocytic and Bactericidal Activity of Blood Platelets in Gastric Cancer Patients.

Postoperative nutritional therapy administered in group I will not include immunomodulating factors. Early postoperative enteral nutrition, based on standard elementary diet (Peptisorb), starts 20 hours post-surgery. The initial flow rate will be 8 ml/h, which will be increased gradually, with the volume doubled every 24 hours, up to 100 ml/h. The enteral nutrition will be continued for six days. During the initial five days post-surgery, the patients will be additionally supplemented parenterally via peripheral veins (commercially available two-chamber bag for peripheral access with 480 kcal of energetic value and 5.7g of N contained in standard amino acids).

The nutritional therapy of group II patients will start post-surgery. It will be based on early enteral nutrition with elementary diet (Peptisorb) with simultaneous parenteral nutrition with two-chamber bag with 480 kcal energetic value and 5.7g of N contained in standard amino acids administered via peripheral veins. Additionally, glutamine (100 ml of Dipeptiven) will be added to the two-chamber bag. The parenteral nutrition will be administered for five days.

Preoperatively, group III patients will be given commercially available oral diet enriched with arginine (Cubitan, 1 package 3 times per day). Additionally, they will be administered commercially available two-chamber bag with 480 kcal energetic value and 5.7g of N in standard amino acids via peripheral access. The duration of pre-operative preparatory phase ranged between 5 and 10 days (8 days on average). Enteral nutrition with commercially available arginine-containing diet (Cubison) will start 20 hours post-surgery at an 8 ml/h flow rate; the rate will be increased gradually, with the volume doubled every 24 hours, up to 100 ml/h and continued for six days. Simultaneously, commercially available two-chamber bags for peripheral access with composition identical to that used preoperatively will be administered via peripheral veins for five days.

Nutritional therapy of group IV will be based on intravenous preparations. Two-chamber bags with 480 kcal energetic value and 5.7 g of N in standard amino acids will be administered preoperatively. A solution of glutamine (Dipeptiven, 100 ml) and ω3-fatty acids (Omegaven, 100 ml) will be added to the bags. The duration of pre-operative preparatory phase ranged between 5 and 10 days (8 days on average). Enteral nutrition with elementary commercially available diet (Peptisorb) will be begun 20 hours post-surgery; it will be started at an 8 ml/h flow rate and increased gradually, with the volume doubled every 24 hours, up to 100 ml/h. The enteral nutrition will be continued for six days. During the initial five days post-surgery, the patients will be additionally supplemented parenterally via peripheral veins; similarly to the preoperative period, the content of two-chamber bag for peripheral access enriched with glutamine and ω3-fatty acids will be administered for five days.