Effect of a self-made dietary therapy formula on the improvement of enteral feeding intolerance in patients with laryngeal cancer after surgery: A randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Enteral feeding intolerance (EFI) is a common complication following laryngeal cancer surgery. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) dietary therapy has shown potential in improving gastrointestinal function and enteral feeding tolerance. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a self-made TCM dietary therapy formula in improving EFI and explored its role in EFI management.

Methods: Patients with laryngeal cancer were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 38) or control group (n = 42). The control group received standard enteral nutrition, whereas the intervention group received standard enteral nutrition plus 25 g/day of self-made dietary therapy formula. Primary outcomes included EFI incidence, enteral nutrition infusion rate, and time to first bowel movement. Secondary outcomes were serum total protein and prealbumin levels.

Results: Compared to the control group, the intervention group had a lower incidence of EFI (50.0% vs 71.4%, P = 0.049), a higher mean enteral nutrition infusion rate (81.24% vs 73.77%, P = 0.009), and a shorter time to first bowel movement (82.34 ± 37.34 h vs 101.51 ± 42.95 h, P = 0.037). By postoperative day 7, the intervention group also exhibited higher serum total protein and prealbumin levels (67.30 ± 7.03 g/L vs 62.94 ± 5.35 g/L; 206.50 ± 58.06 mg/L vs 162.22 ± 42.50 mg/L; P = 0.040 and 0.012, respectively).

Conclusions: This TCM-based, food-grade dietary therapy formula was associated with a reduction in EFI incidence, improved tolerance to enteral nutrition, and better postoperative nutritional status in patients with laryngeal cancer.

Trial Registration: Registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( www.chictr.org.cn ) under the identifier ChiCTR2400093790 (11/12/2024). Retrospectively registered.