Parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids enhances the postoperative recovery of individuals with Crohn's disease after bowel resection

According to a recent study, supplementation of parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids improves postoperative recovery in Crohn's disease patients after bowel resection, leading to decreased complications and lower levels of inflammatory cytokines. This study’s findings were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

In an unblinded, randomized, controlled clinical trial, 268 patients with Crohn's disease who underwent bowel resection were randomly assigned to two groups: 134 in the control group receiving a mix of long-chain and medium-chain fats at 1.0 g/kg/d, and 134 in the treatment group receiving long-chain, medium-chain, and n-3 polyunsaturated fats at 1.2 g/kg/d. This study compared postoperative complications, serum biochemical values, complete blood count, and cytokine concentrations in patients who received parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation for 5 days after surgery and those who did not.

The results from both the intention-to-treat analysis and the per-protocol analysis indicate a significant decrease in overall complication rates (22.4% vs. 49.3%; P < 0.001 and 21.8% vs. 38.2%; P = 0.006) as well as a shorter postoperative stay (8.8 ± 4.5 d vs. 11.2 ± 6.8 d; P = 0.001 and 8.7 ± 4.0 d vs. 11.5 ± 7.3 d; P < 0.001) in patients who received parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids supplementation compared to those in the control group. In terms of secondary outcomes, the treatment group exhibited significantly lower mean ± standard deviation levels of interleukin (IL)-6 (17.11 ± 2.14 pg/mL vs. 30.50 ± 5.14 pg/mL; P = 0.014), IL-1β (2.01 ± 0.05 pg/mL vs. 2.24 ± 0.09 pg/mL; P = 0.019), C-reactive protein concentrations (51.3 ± 4.2 mg/L vs. 64.4 ± 5.3 mg/L; P = 0.050), and tumor necrosis factor-α (2.09 ± 0.06 pg/mL vs. 2.29 ± 0.06 pg/mL; P = 0.029) on postoperative day 5 compared to the control group.

Thus, it can be concluded that the postoperative recovery in patients with Crohn's disease who have undergone bowel resection is significantly improved through the supplementation of parenteral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This intervention not only reduces complications but also lowers the levels of inflammatory cytokines.