Nutritional Care After Head and Neck Surgery

Abstract

Extraoral alimentation is often necessary for adequate nutritional support following extensive head and neck surgery. Nasogastric intubation is a simple, useful method for short-term tube feeding, but cervical esophagostomy or pharyngostomy is the procedure of choice for long-term extraoral alimentation. This article includes a feeding program based on a high-calorie diet, and considers parenteral hyperalimentation as an adjuvant to tube feeding.