Nutrition can help in recovery from surgery

It is estimated that more than 230 million major surgical procedures are undertaken every year worldwide.¹ With modern techniques, trauma can be kept to a minimum. Still, the patient’s body has to recover: through a variety of responses, it mobilises its existing resources to initiate the healing process. Nutrition, by providing protein and energy, can accelerate recovery, for many reasons.²

Before surgery even takes place, appropriate nutrition can facilitate a better outcome. Indeed, clinical studies have proven that supplementing the diet with certain nutrients can improve the body’s responses and may reduce postoperative complications, even when the patient is considered well nourished.³ Depending on the procedure, the medical team might also decide to put patients on a specialised nutrional solution to enhance their immune system, which may lead to shorter hospital stays.⁴

After surgery, nutrition is essential to get patients back to their normal lives as soon as possible. Whether they can eat on their own or need to be fed with the assistance of a tube, the early delivery of the nutrients required by the body is important for recovery.⁴ We at Nestlé Health Science are fully aware of the benefits adequate nutrition can provide, which is why, among our nutritional solutions , we have designed specific formulations for the surgical environment.