Introduction: The effectiveness of nutritional support is well known and highly valued by specialists in patient rehabilitation. However, there are no data on the effect of probiotics in enteral mixtures on the improvement of gastrointestinal complications in severely ill postoperative patients with abdominal pathology. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a new enteral nutrition product with a probiotic component (GASTROAXILIUM+) versus standard enteral nutrition in the combination therapy of severe postoperative patients with abdominal pathology. Methods: A total of 50 patients participated in a single-center, randomized, controlled, prospective trial. The patients were allocated into two groups: Group A (main group), consisting of 30 patients receiving a novel enteral nutrition product with a probiotic component (GASTROAXILIUM+), and Group B (control group), consisting of 20 patients receiving a standard enteral nutrition product. The primary endpoint was the incidence of common gastrointestinal complications, specifically diarrhea, abdominal pain, and peritonitis. Secondary endpoints included the incidence of loose stool (a pre-specified local gastrointestinal adverse event), time to resolution of intestinal paresis, time to tube removal, and time to first stool. Results: Complications were more common in Group B, including primary (diarrhea) in 12/20 cases (60%, 95% CI: 36.1–80.9) and pre-specified secondary (loose stool) in 16/20 patients (80%, 95% CI: 56.3–94.3). In Group A, loose stools were observed in only 2/30 patients (6.7%, 95% CI: 0.8– 22.1), and no cases of diarrhea were recorded. The resolution of intestinal paresis occurred 0.6 days earlier in Group A than in Group B (4.1 ± 1.0 vs. 4.7 ± 1.3, p=0.048), and the feeding tube was removed 0.6 days earlier (4.2 ± 0.9 vs. 4.8 ± 1.3, p=0.036). Discussion: We believe that our results support existing evidence on the favorable effects of probiotics in enteral mixtures for nutritional support and may contribute to improving the quality of care for severely ill postoperative patients with abdominal pathologies. Conclusion: The use of the novel enteral nutrition mixture GASTROAXILIUM+ is associated with improved treatment outcomes, as evidenced by a reduction in gastrointestinal complications. However, the observed effects cannot be attributed solely to the probiotic component due to differences in macronutrient composition between the formulas.
Капралов et al. (2026) studied this question.