Efficacy of Early Enteral Nutrition on Gastrointestinal Surgery Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Congenital anomalies, congenital malformations, or birth defects can be defined as any structural or functional anomalies that develop prenatally and could be identified before, at birth, or later in life. Approximately 6% of babies are born with a congenital anomaly, which results in 2.4 million newborn deaths worldwide. This systematic review and meta-analysis ascertained the quantitative studies published in PubMed, ClinicalKey, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. Two authors independently screened and extracted the data from the primary studies that analyzed the efficacy of early enteral nutrition (EEN) on the postoperative outcome. This systematic review and meta-analysis adopted Cochrane Collaboration guidelines and reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. The methodological quality of trials was assessed by Cochrane Collaboration's risk of bias tool. Six trials, representing 488 children, with age ranging from 10 days to 6.5 years, fulfilled the inclusion criteria. EEN has significantly shortened hospital stay, induced early fecal movement, and reduced postoperative wound infections in children with congenital gastrointestinal abnormalities undergoing gastrointestinal anastomosis compared with children who received late enteral nutrition. The review also found that the experimental group who received EEN had no significant impact on the anastomosis leakage, vomiting, and abdominal distension. EEN has some positive effects on postsurgery outcomes among children with congenital gastrointestinal anomalies undergoing gastrointestinal anastomosis.