5 - Feeding 'speeds surgery recovery'

"Feeding 'speeds surgery recovery'" BBC Health, 2 Oct. 2009. Web. 4 Oct. 2009. .

This article was about how research where able to refute the idea that having a patient fast after any type of thoracic surgery would increase there recovery time. In fact is has been proven that the exact opposite is true. The research was done on 121 patients and was done by Cardiff University, and is thought that this research can save the NHS millions of pounds.

Originally it was thought that the any type of nutrition would impede on the recovery process, where as the opposite has been found to be true. It was found that patients who received nutrition directly through a feeding tube into their stomachs recovered 3 days faster than those patient who were fasting after their surgery. Patients who received nutrition via feeding tube also developed fewer complication post surgery. The patients must receive their nutrition in the form of liquid food. This liquid food would then be sent via a feeding tube directly into the patient's stomach where it would be rapidly absorbed by the body. There would be no physical strain on the patient by any type of digestive active since the body would not have to physically break down the food, since it was already in liquified state.

This speedy recovery would then in turn bring about millions of dollars in savings for the the NHS. This is because the NHS would have to cover fewer daily costs for a patients meals, surgery, and intensive care stays.