Clinical trial · Interventional
Home Jejunostomy Feeding Following Esophagectomy/Gastrectomy
A Pilot Study Investigating the Effect of Post-operative Home Jejunostomy Feeding on Quality of Life and Nutritional Parameters in Patients With Oesophago-gastric Cancer
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
After surgery for oesophageal (gullet) or gastric (stomach) cancer, patients are routinely fed by means of a small feeding tube into the intestine (jejunostomy, JEJ) while they are in hospital. Current practice is to stop feeding once the patient leaves hospital, although the tube is left in place for the first 6 weeks. Most patients lose weight after surgery and have to learn to adjust to new eating habits and behaviours. A few patients have the JEJ feed restarted because of nutritional problems and this requires a further inpatient stay. It is unknown whether every patient would benefit from this type of feeding at home. Previous studies have only assessed the value of JEJ feeding while patients are still in hospital. There is little known about the benefit of continuing JEJ feeding after discharge from hospital, although home feeding is not uncommon in other patient groups (eg. after a stroke). The proposed study will provide initial information on patients' well being by measuring quality of life and factors such as change in body weight and dietary intake following a period of home JEJ feeding after surgery. Subjects recruited into the study will be placed, randomly, into a control group who receive current nutritional care (based on dietary advice and oral nutritional supplement drinks) or an intervention group who will receive home JEJ feeding for 6 weeks after hospital discharge, in addition to current treatment. If subjects in the control group are experiencing problems eating at home, home feeding through the JEJ tube will be started as needed. The study will also examine how surgery and JEJ feeding at home impact on the patient and carer(s) by means of questionnaires and interviews conducted in the patients' home. Information obtained will assist in the design of a multicentre study. This intervention is considered important because it has the potential to benefit thousands of patients each year at a modest cost.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esophageal Neoplasms | Esophageal Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home jejunostomy feeding | Dietary Supplement | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- ACTIVE_COMPARATOR
- label
- Home jejunostomy feeding
- description
- Six weeks of post hospital discharge home enteral feeding
- interventionNames
- Dietary Supplement: Home jejunostomy feeding
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Control
- description
- Standard care
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Participant recruitment and retention rates
- timeFrame
- 7 months
- description
- This pilot study will inform the design and planning of a larger multi-centre study
Secondary outcomes (10)
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * planned esophagectomy or total gastrectomy for adenocarcinoma or squamous carcinoma * suitable for home enteral nutrition Exclusion Criteria: * inability to provide written informed consent
References
Publications (3)
- DERIVEDBaker ML, Halliday V, Robinson P, Smith K, Bowrey DJ. Nutrient intake and contribution of home enteral nutrition to meeting nutritional requirements after oesophagectomy and total gastrectomy. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2017 Sep;71(9):1121-1128. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2017.88. Epub 2017 Jun 28. PMID 28656968
- DERIVEDBowrey DJ, Baker M, Halliday V, Thomas AL, Pulikottil-Jacob R, Smith K, Morris T, Ring A. A randomised controlled trial of six weeks of home enteral nutrition versus standard care after oesophagectomy or total gastrectomy for cancer: report on a pilot and feasibility study. Trials. 2015 Nov 21;16:531. doi: 10.1186/s13063-015-1053-y. PMID 26590903
- DERIVEDBowrey DJ, Baker M, Halliday V, Thomas AL, Pulikottil-Jacob R, Smith K. Six weeks of home enteral nutrition versus standard care after esophagectomy or total gastrectomy for cancer: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2014 May 24;15:187. doi: 10.1186/1745-6215-15-187. PMID 24885032