Objective To explore the effect of whole-course nutritional management intervention on nutritional status and hospital stay in patients with gastrointestinal cancer during periradiotherapy.

Methods A total of 160 patients with gastrointestinal tumors indicated for radiotherapy were enrolled in this study. All patients were treated with precise radiotherapy three dimensional comformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT), intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), or volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and randomly divided into conventional nutrition group (n=79) and nutritional intervention group (n=81). At the beginning of radiotherapy, at the end of radiotherapy, and 1 month after the end of radiotherapy, nutrition-related hematological indicators were measured: The concentration of hemoglobin (Hb), albumin (Alb) and prealbumin (PAB), as well as the nutritional assessment scales (NRS-2002 and PG-SGA), were compared between the two groups.

Results Hb, Alb and PAB in the nutrition intervention group were higher than those in the conventional nutrition group (P < 0.05). The body weight and BMI of the nutrition intervention group were better than those of the conventional nutrition group (P < 0.05). The NRS-2002 and PG-SGA scores of the nutrition intervention group were better than those of the conventional nutrition group (P < 0.05). The nutritional intervention group could shorten the average length of hospital stay (P < 0.05).

Conclusions Whole-course nutrition management can improve the basic nutritional status of patients with gastrointestinal related tumors undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy, improve the compliance of patients with radiotherapy, and shorten the average length of hospital stay.