Annals of surgery
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Review Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Is early oral feeding safe after elective colorectal surgery? A prospective randomized trial.
The routine use of a nasogastric tube after elective colorectal surgery is no longer mandatory. More recently, early feeding after laparoscopic colectomy has been shown to be safe and well tolerated. Therefore, the aim of our study was to prospectively assess the safety and tolerability of early oral feeding after elective "open" abdominal colorectal operations. ⋯ Early oral feeding after elective colorectal surgery is safe and can be tolerated by the majority of patients. Thus, it may become a routine feature of postoperative management in these patients.