Editorial: Nutrition and the gastrointestinal tract

Abstract

As editors of the gastrointestinal section of the journal, our goal is to select topics of utmost relevancy for clinical practice, supported by the most recent evidence and to invite experts in the field to author papers translating novel knowledge from the ''bench to patient practice''. However, this is not always feasible, since some areas are less well studied or lack good methodological papers. Nonetheless these topics deserve attention, and a review of recent literature may raise awareness and stimulate research. In this current 2022 issue, some invited authors have faced this challenge and presented us with compelling discussions.Dike and Abu-El-Haija [1] discuss the role of diet in children's pancreatitis. Although most reviewed studies come from single centers, they indicate nutrition as a major contributor to the outcomes of acute pancreatitis in children and early enteral nutrition to be associated with improved outcomes. Both malnutrition and obesity appear to worsen the severity of pancreatitis, and malnutrition is significantly associated with increased length of stay and costs of hospitalization. They call for more research to assess the effects of fat restriction versus a standard fat diet on both short-and long-term outcomes in pediatric pancreatitis. Of interest, the EFFORT (effect of dietary fat content on the recurrence of pancreatitis) trial will start including patients soon.The role of nutrition in adults' pancreatitis is covered by Arvanitakis et al. [2]. They discuss the role of obesity as a risk factor for severe acute pancreatitis and highlight early oral feeding to lead to shorter length of stay, fewer complications, and lower intolerance to oral feeding or severe disease, nutritional therapy should be started within 24-72 h, preferentially by enteral route, which appears superior to parenteral nutrition. Enteral nutrition can be administered through gastric or jejunal feeding, depending on digestive tolerance and the presence of dysmotility. The authors present that weight loss after discharge occurs frequently and could reflect pancreatic exocrine failure postacute pancreatitis. They also report novel research on gut microbiota that could open new therapeutic opportunities to prevent bacterial translocation and pancreatic necrosis infection.

Effect of the Home to Hospital to Home nutrition management program on postoperative liver cancer patients: A single-center randomized controlled study

“…This may be attributed to the activation of the intestinal neuroendocrine system, maintenance of normal immune system function, preservation of intestinal mucosal integrity, and the role played by nutritional support in gastrointestinal function recovery. [ 23 , 24 ] Unexpectedly, although the number of cases with postoperative nausea and vomiting was lower in the intervention group than in the control group, there was no statistical significance between the 2 groups. This may be related to the various causes of nausea and vomiting, such as increased vagal tone after epidural anesthesia, postoperative opioid use, and laparoscopic surgery.…”