Objective  To explore the effect of early enteral nutrition support on postoperative life of elderly patients with gastric fundus and cardia cancer.

  Methods  Eighty patients with postoperative elderly patients with gastric fundus and cardia cancer supported by early parenteral nutrition were enrolled in our hospital. Forty patients given early parenteral nutrition support were selected as control group, and 40 patients with early enteral nutrition support were as observation group. Changes of postoperative nutritional indicators, postoperative recovery and complication rate were compared before and after treatment.

  Results  The indexes such as serum albumin, hemoglobin and prealbumin in the observation group after one week of nursing were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The defecation time, anal exhaust time and hospital stay in the observation group were shorter than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The incidences of nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension and diarrhea, lung infection and incision infection in the observation group were all lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of fistula showed no significant difference compared with the control group (P>0.05).

  Conclusion  Early enteral nutrition support intervention for elderly patients with gastric fundus and cardia cancer can effectively improve their nutritional status, speed up postoperative recovery, and reduce the incidence of complications.