Purpose: Colorectal cancer surgery presents challenges due to surgical stress and immunosuppression, leading to postoperative complications. Nutrition is crucial for colorectal cancer patients who are prone to malnutrition. This study aims to provide a comprehensive review of the role of preoperative immunonutrition in colorectal cancer surgery. Current concept: Preoperative immunonutrition, consisting of immunonutrients such as arginine, ω-3 fatty acids, and nucleotides, has emerged as a potential strategy to enhance surgical outcomes by modulating immune responses and reducing complications. Current guidelines recommend preoperative oral nutritional supplements for major abdominal surgery and immunonutrition for nutritionally high-risk patients. Meta-analysis have demonstrated significant decreases in infectious complications and hospital stay durations with preoperative immunonutrition. However, limitations such as publication bias and heterogeneity in the previous studies should be considered. Further research should focus on the optimal timing, duration, and amount of immunonutrition; the patient populations that would benefit most; and the integration of immunonutrition into enhanced recovery after surgery protocols. Conclusion: While preoperative immunonutrition shows promise, additional research is crucial to refine protocols and establish optimal clinical practice utilization.
Environmental factors, drugs, diet, and surgery alter the composition of the gut microbiota leading to the production of different metabolites or toxins that can cause disease or delay postoperative recovery. Surgical damage leads to gut barrier disruption, increased intestinal permeability, gut microbial imbalance, and immunologic compromise of the host with subsequent bacterial translocation from the gastrointestinal tract to systemic circulation. Therefore, perioperative stabilization of the intestinal microbiota is a potential method of reducing postoperative complication rates. Probiotics have been proposed as a viable option for prophylaxis of postoperative infections through increased intestinal motility to prevent bacterial overgrowth, improve gut barrier function, and modulate immune response. This review investigates microbial changes after surgery and the influence of probiotics on postoperative microbial composition. Infectious postoperative complications and immunologic changes related to probiotics/synbiotics were also reviewed in patients who underwent abdominal surgery.
Purpose: Systematic inflammatory response biomarkers are recognized as potential prognostic factors for colorectal cancer (CRC). Recently, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has emerged as a possible marker for predicting the outcomes of patients with CRC. The purpose of the current study was to determine if NLR could function as a predictive marker of postoperative complications in patients with colorectal cancer who were treated surgically. Materials and Methods: One hundred and seven patients who underwent radical surgery for colorectal cancer were enrolled in the study. The NLR values were determined from the complete blood counts within one month before surgery. Values of less than or greater than 3 were defined as low (NLR-low) or high (NLR-high), respectively. Statistical comparisons were made between the NLR and the clinical-pathological variables. Results: Sixty-eight patients met the criteria of NLR-low, and 39 patients were categorized as NLR-high. The NLR status was significantly correlated with T-stage, perineural invasion, and an increased likelihood of complications. Univariate analysis indicated that both low albumin and meeting the criteria for the NLR-high group correlated with an increased occurrence of complications (P=0.004, P=0.004, respectively). Multivariate analysis identified NLR-high and low albumin levels as independent predictors for complications (P=0.007, odd ratio=6.405, P=0.016, odd ratio=9.641, respectively) Conclusion: The current results suggest that the preoperative NLR levels could be useful tools for predicting the occurrence of postoperative complications.