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Post-operative Medium Chain Triglyceride Diet May Reduce Hospital Stay Following Lung Resection

NCT07159659 · Status: RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 210

Last updated 2026-03-20

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Lung resection, a critical treatment for various thoracic diseases, including lung cancer, often necessitates prolonged hospitalization due to rare but severe postoperative complications such as chyle leaks, with an occurrence of 0.25%-3%, prolonging chest drainage, and delaying recovery. Therefore, effective postoperative care is essential for optimizing outcomes, reducing complications, and expediting recovery.

Recent studies have highlighted the significant potential of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) diets, owing to their unique absorption pathway and metabolic properties. MCT contains mainly medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA), which is absorbed in the intestine and transported to the liver via the portal system instead of the lymphatic system. This helps to bypass the lymphatic system, thereby reducing the volume of lymph. MCFAs also provide better energy utilization in stressed condition since it does not require carnitine shuttle upon metabolism, which is beneficial to post-operation recovery.

Several studies have demonstrated the benefits of MCT diets in managing chyle leaks and supporting gastrointestinal recovery, particularly in conditions that strain the lymphatic system. For instance, short-term MCT-enriched diets have been associated with improved post-operation recovery of gastrointestinal, hepatic and renal functions, reduced total chest drainage volumes, and shorter hospital stay when compared to regular diet groups.

Patients with post-operative chyle leak following thoracic surgery are often given an MCT diet to reduce chest drain volume and hence shorten hospital stay. Based on the successful use of MCT diet on patients with chyle leak after lobectomy, it is hypothesized that patients with chylothorax provided with post-operative MCT diet can also shorten hospital stay by decreasing chest drainage. Therefore, a prospective and randomized trial is designed to investigate how post-operative MCT diet in lung resection patients without chylothorax may affect hospital stay and post-operative recovery.

Conditions

  • Thoracic Neoplasms

Interventions

DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

MCT Diet

MCT diet for patients following lung resection

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Chinese University of Hong Kong

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
80 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-03-19
Primary Completion
2027-02-28
Completion
2027-08-30

Countries

  • Hong Kong

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT07159659 on ClinicalTrials.gov