Patients undergoing cancer-related upper gastrointestinal (UGI) surgery can often experience significant challenges with nutrition during recovery. Many patients lose substantial weight in the first four to six weeks after surgery, at a time when maintaining strength and stability is critical.
Early weight loss and nutritional instability can affect recovery, increase the risk of complications and readmissions, and reduce a patient’s fitness for further treatment, including adjuvant therapy. This can have a significant impact on a patient’s recovery journey after major cancer surgery, at a point when they are trying to regain strength and prepare for the next stage of treatment or follow-up care.
This work will build on the existing nutrition pathway for patients undergoing UGI cancer surgery, strengthening discharge planning and follow-up so that nutritional support can be started earlier and delivered more consistently during recovery. This includes planned jejunostomy feeding where appropriate, giving patients a clearer nutrition plan when they leave hospital and helping clinical teams identify and respond to nutritional needs before significant deterioration occurs.
Cardiff & Vale University Health Board provides the centralised UGI surgical service for patients from across Wales, serving six Health Boards. This work will help ensure patients have access to a consistent post-operative nutrition pathway, regardless of where they live.
The aims of this work are to:
- Reduce early post-operative weight loss and stabilise nutritional status during the critical recovery window
- Improve patients’ fitness for and tolerance of adjuvant therapy
- Reduce avoidable readmissions and system pressure linked to nutritional decline
- Capture clinical, operational and economic evidence to understand the impact of the pathway change
- Generate learning to support sustainable and equitable nutrition support for UGI cancer surgery patients across the region