Gastric emptying after elective abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery: The case for early postoperative enteral feeding

Objective: to assess gastric emptying with a view to early postoperative enteral nutrition after elective abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) surgery. Methods: the paracetamol absorption test was used to assess gastric emptying in 13 consecutive patients at 6, 18 and 32 h following elective AAA surgery. All patients received postoperative analgesia with marcaine given via an epidural catheter during the first 48 postoperative hours. Normal emptying was defined as an area tinder the plasma paracetamol concentration curve at 60 min (AUC-60) of >600 mg/min/l. Results: the median time to normal gastric emptying was 18 +/- 7.7 h. One patient (7.6%) had normal emptying at 6 h, nine (69%) at 18 h and 12 (92%) at 32 h. The nasogastric tubes were removed at a median of 3.2 days after surgery, and enteral feeding was commenced an day 4. Conclusions: gastric emptying was normal 18 h post-AAA surgery as assessed by the paracetamol absorption test. In view of the importance of maintaining an intact gastrointestinal mucosa, enteral nutrition may be commenced on the second postoperative day.