National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Audit Short Report 2022: Postoperative nutritional management among patients with oesophago-gastric cancer in England

The National Oesophago-Gastric Cancer Audit (NOGCA) has published its latest short report, which provides insight into current postoperative nutritional practices in ten (27.8%) OG cancer specialist centres across England, based on 617 patients who underwent curative surgery after being diagnosed between April 2019 and March 2020. The report found that, for patients who had oesophagectomy, the most commonly reported nutritional management strategy was enteral nutrition delivered via a jejunostomy during the admission and continued on discharge (51.0%). It also found that the majority of oesophagectomy patients (83.9%) had a jejunostomy or received parenteral nutrition during their surgical admission. Other key findings include:

• Among patients undergoing curative gastrectomy, oral nutrition during admission and on discharge was the most commonly reported nutritional management strategy (60.9%).
• The majority of patients (86.2%) were assessed and advised by a specialist OG dietitian before their treatment began, and a further 6.5% were seen by a general dietitian (or one whose role was unspecified). The remaining patients had no contact with a dietitian, either because it was considered not required (7.1%) or because no dietitian was available (0.2%).
• Almost all patients (98.9%) were assessed and advised by a specialist OG dietitian after surgery, in line with NICE recommendations.

However, the findings suggest that a small number of patients were not assessed by a dietitian either before or after surgery. As such the report recommends that multidisciplinary teams and NHS commissioners review the nutritional management of patients undergoing surgery for OG cancer to ensure that all patients have access to appropriate dietetic input as recommended by NICE. Read the full report: You can read the report by clicking on the link below. Stay up-to-date: For notifications of future reports from HQIP, sign up to our mailing list.