Objective  To explore the correlation between enteral nutrition tolerance and anastomotic leakage in patients with esophageal cancer after surgery.

  Methods  Clinical data of 149 patients undergoing radical resection of esophageal cancer admitted to our hospital from July 2017 to May 2021 was retrospectively collected. According to whether esophageal anastomotic leakage occurred after surgery, the patients were divided into anastomotic leakage group (n=19) and non-anastomotic leakage group (n=130). The clinical symptoms of the two groups were compared, and the correlation between enteral nutritional tolerance and anastomotic leakage after esophageal cancer was analyzed.

  Results  The total incidence of anastomotic leakage after esophageal cancer was 12.75% (19/149). The incidence of anastomotic leakage in patients with postoperative gastrointestinal intolerance for feeding was 32.08% (17/53), which was significantly higher than 2.08% (2/96) in patients with tolerance for feeding (P < 0.05). The incidence of abdominal distention and reflux in patients with anastomotic leakage was significantly higher than that in patients without anastomotic fistula (P < 0.05). The duration of hospitalization in the anastomotic leakage group was significantly longer than that in the non-anastomotic leakage group, and hospitalization cost was significantly higher than that in the non-anastomotic leakage group (P < 0.001).

  Conclusion  The incidence of anastomotic leakage after esophageal cancer surgery is high, and patients with postoperative enteral nutrition intolerance are prone to occur occurrence of anastomotic leakage, so it is necessary to avoid the occurrence of high abdominal pressure and severe reflux in patients. Nursing staff should evaluate the tolerance of enteral nutrition in patients and formulate effective interventions for high-risk patients to improve the tolerance of enteral nutrition.