Targeted nutritional nursing versus routine dietary care on postoperative nutritional status and recovery outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal polyps: A retrospective controlled study

Gastrointestinal (GI) polyps are common benign lesions that may progress to malignancy if untreated. Optimizing perioperative nutritional management is crucial to enhance recovery after polypectomy. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of targeted nutritional nursing versus routine dietary care on postoperative nutritional status, inflammatory response, and recovery outcomes in patients undergoing GI polypectomy. A retrospective controlled study was conducted among 126 patients who underwent endoscopic polypectomy between January 2023 and December 2024. Patients were divided into a control group (routine dietary care) and an experimental group (targeted nutritional nursing). The targeted intervention included individualized nutrition screening (Nutritional Risk Screening 2002), personalized prescriptions (25-30 kcal/kg/d energy, 1.2-1.5 g/kg/d protein), and daily monitoring of tolerance and GI recovery. Primary outcomes included serum albumin, prealbumin, and hemoglobin. Secondary outcomes included inflammatory markers (C-reactive protein and interleukin-6), postoperative recovery parameters, and complication rates. Baseline characteristics were comparable between groups. Postoperatively, the experimental group had significantly higher albumin (40.41 ± 3.58 vs 37.23 ± 3.50 g/L, P < .001), prealbumin (208.89 ± 30.94 vs 192.87 ± 30.64 mg/L, P = .004), and hemoglobin (124.91 ± 10.74 vs 119.0 ± 10.76 g/L, P = .003). Inflammatory markers were significantly lower (C-reactive protein 9.32 ± 3.9 vs 13.66 ± 4.42 mg/L; interleukin-6 12.88 ± 5.67 vs 19.97 ± 7.63 pg/mL; both P < .001). The experimental group recovered faster with shorter anal exhaust time (1.74 ± 0.60 vs 2.18 ± 0.63 days, P < .001) and hospital stay (6.01 ± 1.11 vs 7.22 ± 1.81 days, P < .001). The total complication rate was markedly lower (12.7% vs 28.6%, P = .01). Targeted nutritional nursing effectively enhances postoperative nutritional and inflammatory status, accelerates GI function recovery, and reduces complication incidence in patients undergoing GI polypectomy. Incorporating individualized nutritional nursing into perioperative management is recommended to optimize surgical outcomes and recovery efficiency.