Nutritional Support after Gastrointestinal Surgery

This volume provides readers with the necessary information to select the most appropriate nutritional support following gastrointestinal tract surgery. Most patients are worried about resuming oral intake, particularly when the surgery has altered the GI tract normal physiology removing organs (e.g. total colectomy) or part of them, or modifying the natural sequence of the different GI tract parts (e.g. after esophagectomy or pancreatectomy). Patients may also worry about the possible complications of an inappropriate alimentation. As a matter of fact, several metabolic processes can be modified by GI tract surgery (e.g. major liver resection or pancreatectomy), thus making the nutritional support essential: and the same support is fundamental in bariatric surgery, nowadays widely used for super-obese patients. There is therefore a need for a nutritional guide in surgery and in troubleshooting postoperative cases where nutrition is a major issue This book offers nutritionists insights into the possible alterations of GI tract physiology occurring after surgery, and will be a valuable resource for surgeons, gastroenterologists, coloproctologists, nutritionists and clinical specialist nurses, seeking guidance on postoperative nutrition.