Safe management of anastomotic leakage after gastric cancer surgery with enteral nutrition via a nasointestinal tube.

Purpose Anastomotic leakage is a serious complication after gastric cancer surgery. Despite the superiority of enteral nutrition (EN), total parenteral nutrition (PN) remains the standard therapy for anastomotic leakage. After introduction of EN via a nasointestinal tube for patients with anastomotic leakage in our institution in 2006, standard nutritional therapy was shifted gradually from PN to EN. The present preliminary study evaluates the safety and feasibility of EN via a nasointestinal tube for anastomotic leakage after gastric cancer surgery.