Influence of Food Intake on the Healing Process of Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula After Pancreatoduodenectomy: A Multi-institutional Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: The usefulness of enteral nutrition via a nasointestinal tube for patients who develop postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) after miscellaneous pancreatectomy procedures has been reported. However, no clear evidence regarding whether oral intake is possible during management of POPF after pancreatoduodenectomy (PD) is currently available. We investigated the effects of oral food intake on the healing process of POPF after PD by a multi-institutional randomized controlled trial. Methods: Patients who developed POPF were randomly assigned to the dietary intake (DI) group (n = 30) or the fasted group [no dietary intake (NDI) group] (n = 29). The primary endpoint was the length of drain placement. Results: No significant differences were found in the length of drain placement between the DI and NDI groups [27 (7–80) vs. 26 (7–70) days, respectively; p = .8858]. POPF progressed to a clinically relevant status (grade B/C) in 20 patients in the DI group and 19 patients in the NDI group (p = .9257). POPF-related intra-abdominal hemorrhage was found in 2 patients in the NDI group, but in no patients in the DI group (p = .1434). There were no significant differences in POPF-related intra-abdominal hemorrhage, the incidence of other complications, or the length of the postoperative hospital stay between the 2 groups. Conclusion: Food intake did not aggravate POPF and did not prolong the length of drain placement or hospital stay after PD. There may be no need to avoid oral dietary intake in patients with POPF.