Key words: costs, quality of life, cost-effectiveness, nutrition, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer

"Costs, Quality of Life and Cost-effectiveness of Nutrition in Gastrointestinal Surgery"

Healthcare costs are increasing in the recent past. Major factors driving healthcare spending are the development of new expensive technologies and improvement in the treatment. Policymakers are interested in the cost information of new medical treatments to ensure a fair distribution of resources. Colorectal and esophageal cancer are common cancers among gastrointestinal cancers. Surgical treatment leads to inevitable complications affecting quality of life in patients. Clinical trials with new feeding methods were conducted to reduce the rate of complications. Gum chewing before and after surgery, high-fat diet (tube feeding) before, during and after surgery was introduced in colorectal cancer patients. Early oral feeding after surgery was introduced in esophageal cancer patients. This research deals with assessing the impact of these new methods on costs and quality of life. Gum chewing reduces hospital stay costs but did not improve the quality of life. Early oral feeding helped in quicker recovery and lesser homecare need in patients. High-fat diet was not cost effective and did not bring a difference in costs and quality of life. Furthermore, it was seen that costs were high in the period before patients undergoing surgery imposing a significant burden. Complications following surgery also imposed a significant impact on the patient and the family.