Fish Oil Improves Postoperative Liver, Pancreas Function

DRESDEN, Germany--Fish oil supplementation improves hepatic and pancreatic function after major abdominal tumor surgery in cancer patients, according to a study published in the September issue of the International Journal of Cancer (111, 4:611-6, 2004) (www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/29331).

In the prospective, randomized, double blind clinical trial, 44 patients undergoing elective major abdominal surgery were randomly assigned to receive total parenteral nutrition supplemented with either soybean oil (SO) or a combination of fish oil (FO) and SO for five days. In the postoperative period, patients supplemented with FO experienced significantly improved liver and pancreas function as measured by various biomarkers in contrast to patients supplemented with pure SO. Further, sepsis-prone patients supplemented with FO showed a tendency to shorter intensive care unit stay and weight loss was absent in the group supplemented with FO.

The researchers concluded FO supplementation improved liver and pancreas function after major abdominal tumor surgery, which might have contributed to the faster recovery of patients.