[Outpatient chemotherapy with home enteral nutrition for gastric cancer patients]

The jejunostomy catheters were placed with needle catheter jejunostomy (NCJ) kits at the time of gastrectomy for the gastric cancer patients. When the oral intake of the post-operative patient is insufficient, home enteral nutrition (HEN) was introduced to the patient. Forty seven cases out of the 278 gatrectomy patients with jejunostomy were applied to HEN (400-1,200 kcal/day in the night). Twenty nine HEN gastric cancer cases received the chemotherapy in the outpatient clinic. The mean age was 71 years old, the number of total gastrectomy and distal gastrectomy were 21 and 8, respectively, and the number of Stage III and IV were 21 and 8, respectively. The chemotherapy for these 29 cases was continued for a long period unevenly in the outpatient clinic, even though the oral intake of the cases was insufficient. HEN is a good arm for keeping the chemotherapy secure and efficient in the outpatient clinic.