NUTRITIONAL SUPPORT OF PATIENTS AFTER SURGICAL TREATMENT FOR ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

Introduction. Treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma is a complex and multicomponent process with obligatory surgical intervention at stage I of treatment. This usually leads to formation of extensive surgical defects during operational treatment and requires their single-step closure. Therefore, a surgeon faces a challenge of treatment optimization and a search for ways to decrease the rate of postoperative complications. Nutritional support plays a significant role in this process. 

The study objective is to evaluate the effect of nutritional support on immediate course of the postoperative period after surgical treatment for oral squamous cell carcinoma in primary patients.

Materials and methods. In the study performed at the N. N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, 43 primary patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma were divided into 2 groups: in one group the patients received nutritional support (1st group), the other group served as control (2nd group). 

Results. In the 1st group local complications were observed in 7 (31.8 %) cases, while in the control group in 9 (42.3 %) cases. Furthermore, severity of local complications in the 2nd group was also higher than in the 1st group. Such severe complications as partial or total necrosis of the flap developed only in the control group: in 3 (14.3 %) and 1 (4.8 %) case, respectively, while in the nutritional support group only 2 (9.1 %) cases of marginal necrosis were observed. Rate of postoperative complications also affects duration of inpatient stay. Thus, after surgical treatment patients in the 1st group stayed at the hospital for 16.6 bed-days (b/d) on average, while in control group they stayed for 21.5 b/d.

Conclusion. Nutritional support allows to improve patients’ quality of life and decrease the rate of postoperative complications, which in turn leads to increased overall survival.