| Nutritional depletion has been identified as a major cause of post-surgical complications. Causes for nutritional depletion include inadequate intake, surgical stress and the subsequent rise in the metabolic rate of the body. | |
| Why it happens
Post-operatively, oral intake of foods and liquids is held off, especially in surgeries where there has been handling of the intestines, due to fear of causing problems with the normal gastrointestinal mechanisms. For this reason, surgeons usually wait till they can hear bowel sounds on auscultation with a stethoscope or until the patient passes Flatus. Once this has been noted, it is determined that the gastrointestinal system is returning to normalcy and consumption of liquids is slowly initiated, which is then followed by semi-solids and solids, based on how well the patient tolerates each stage of restoring normal intake. In addition, early initiation of oral intake has been associated with reduced cost and shorter hospital stay. |
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