Comparison of Frequency of Anastomotic Leak in Early versus Delayed Oral Feeding after Elective Colostomy Closure

Background: Colostomy is an artificial opening made in the large gut to divert faeces and flatus to the exterior OBJECTIVE: To compare the frequency of anastomotic leak in early versus delayed oral feeding after elective colostomy closure. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This randomized controlled study was conducted in Surgical department Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar from June 2012 to June 2014 after taking permission from local ethical and research committee. RESULTS: A total of 298 patients of colostomy closure were observed, which were divided in two equal groups. Overall male to female ratio was 1.21:1. The overall average age of the patients was 39.33 years +13.52SD. Anastomotic leak wise distribution shows that early oral feeding have anastomotic leak in 8(5.4%) patients while in late oral feeding group anastomotic leak was observed in 20(13.4%) patients which showed that anastomotic leak was low in early oral feeding group than late oral feeding group (p-value=0.017). CONCLUSION: Early oral feeding is as safe as late oral feeding after elective colostomy closure in terms of postoperative leak.