Purpose: Postoperative body weight loss (PBWL) is associated with poor long-term outcomes following esophagectomy for esophageal cancer, underscoring the critical importance of perioperative nutritional management. Although minimally invasive procedures, such as robot-assisted radical transmediastinal esophagectomy (RA-TME), have become increasingly prevalent, perioperative nutritional strategies have received comparatively limited attention. This study evaluated the impact of soy oil-based injectable lipid emulsion (SO-ILE) on PBWL in patients undergoing RA-TME.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 155 patients who underwent RA-TME for esophageal or esophagogastric junction cancer at our hospital between 2011 and 2022. Patients were divided into two groups: the lipid (+) group (n=33), which received SO-ILE between postoperative days 1 and 6, and the lipid (–) group (n=122), which did not receive SO-ILE. Oral or enteral nutrition was withheld until postoperative day 6. Nutrient intake, postoperative outcomes, and nutritional status were compared between the two groups.Results: Patient backgrounds, surgical outcomes, and postoperative complication rates were similar between the two groups. However, patients in the lipid (+) group received significantly greater total energy and nutrient intake. PBWL at 2 weeks after surgery was significantly lower in the lipid (+) group than in the lipid (–) group (5.8% vs. 7.4%; P=0.027). Univariate analysis showed that absence of SO-ILE administration was the only significant risk factor for PBWL greater than 5% at 2 weeks after RA-TME (P=0.038).Conclusion: SO-ILE may have the potential to mitigate early PBWL after RA-TME.
Narita et al. (Mon,) studied this question.