Effects of Enteral Immunonutrition in Patients Undergoing Pancreaticoduodenectomy: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Background: The effect of enteral immunonutrition (EIN) in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is still doubtful. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the impact of EIN on postoperative clinical outcomes for patients undergoing PD.

Methods: A literature search was carried out to identify all of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) concerning the use of EIN for PD. Data collection ended on April 1, 2018. Pooled risk ratios (RRs) and the mean difference (MD) with a 95% CI were calculated using fixed effects or random effects models. The analyses were performed with RevMan 5.3.5.

Results: Four RCTs with a total of 299 patients were included. Immunonutrition reduced the incidence of postoperative infectious complications (RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.37-0.92; p = 0.02) and shortened the length of hospital stay (MD -1.79, 95% CI -3.40 to 0.18; p = 0.03). Conversely, there were no significant differences in the incidence of overall postoperative complications (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.62-1.05; p = 0.11), non-infectious complications (RR 0.94, 95% CI 0.69-1.28; p = 0.70) and postoperative mortality (RR 2.43, 95% CI 0.37-16.10; p = 0.36).

Conclusions: EIN reduced postoperative infectious complications and shortened the length of the hospital stay; immunonutrition should be encouraged in patients undergoing PD.