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Parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation improves postoperative recovery for patients with Crohn's disease after bowel resection: a randomized, unblinded controlled clinical trial

X. Ge, Hua-Ying Liu, Yan Wu, Wei Liu, Wei-Lin Qi, Linna Ye, Qian Cao, Haifeng Lian et al.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2024

268 participants · 10 citations

Abstract

BACKGROUND

The postoperative inflammatory response is associated with postoperative recovery in surgery. n-3 (ω-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids have been reported to lower inflammation. The postoperative role of parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation on outcomes in Crohn's disease after bowel resection is unclear.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to investigate the effects of postoperative parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation in Crohn's disease.

METHODS

A prospective randomized, unblinded controlled clinical trial was conducted for patients with Crohn's disease who underwent bowel resection between May 2019 and February 2022. Postoperative complications, complete blood count, serum biochemical values, and cytokine concentrations were compared in patients with and without parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation for 5 d postoperatively.

RESULTS

There were 268 patients randomly assigned in the analysis, with 134 in the control group (a mix of long-chain and medium-chain fats at 1.0 g/kg/d) and 134 in the treatment group (long-chain, medium-chain, and n-3 polyunsaturated fats at 1.2 g/kg/d). Twenty-six did not complete the allocated treatment, and 8 patients were lost to follow-up. The intention-to-treat analysis and the per-protocol analysis showed that there were a significant reduction in overall complication rates (22.4% compared with 49.3%; P < 0.001 and 21.8% compared with 38.2%; P = 0.006) and postoperative stay (8.8 ± 4.5 d…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 268 participants or records.

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