Effect of early enteral nutrition in elderly patients with hip fracture during the perioperative period

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the effects of early enteral nutrition (EN) in elderly patients with hip fracture. METHODS: The patients were classified into two groups (with and without EN). We compared the pre- and postoperative albumin (ALB) and inflammatory marker levels of each group and the time spent in bed and quality of life 3 months after surgery between the two groups. RESULTS: The pre- and postoperative IL-6 levels of the experimental group (61.68 +/- 51.80 pg/L) were lower than those of the control group (233.11 +/- 206.31 pg/L) (P< 0.001). The experimental group spent a shorter period of time in bed (38.75 +/- 14.26 days) in comparison to the control group (99.71 +/- 56.87 days) (P< 0.001). Quality of life was better in the experimental group than in the control group (P< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Early EN reduced the increment of postoperative IL-6 levels and improved healing postoperatively.