Effect of oral probiotics on postoperative nutrition level of patients with liver cancer.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of probiotics on the postoperative nutritional status of patients with liver cancer. METHODS: A total of 112 patients with liver cancer were enrolled from January 2021 to December 2022 and randomly assigned to either a probiotics group (n=56) or a placebo group (n=56). Patients in the probiotics group received oral administration of either bifid-triple viable capsules (420 mg, three times daily) or Bacillus subtilis capsules (0.5 g, three times daily) for 21 consecutive days. Patients in the placebo group received identical-looking placebo capsules following the same schedule. All patients received routine nursing care and nutritional support during hospitalization. Nutritional status was assessed at baseline (day 0) and at 7, 14, and 21 days after intervention using the patient-generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA) score, serum levels of albumin (Alb), prealbumin (PA), hemoglobin (Hb) and transferrin (TRF), as well as arm muscle circumference (AMC) and triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) measurements. RESULTS: After 21 d, PG-SGA score was obviously reduced in probiotics group and placebo group relative to 0 d (p<0.05). Moreover, the decrease of PG-SGA score was more in probiotics group than placebo group (p<0.05). After 21 d, the increased levels of Alb, PA, Hb and TRF in serums were more in probiotics group than placebo group (p<0.05). Furthermore, the increases of AMC value and TSF value were more in probiotics group than placebo group after 21 d (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Oral probiotics had a good feedback on improving postoperative nutrition level in patients with liver cancer.