Nutritional support.There is some evidence that immunonutrition, the ingestion of amino acids (e.g. glutamine and arginine), omega-3 fatty acids, and nucleotides counteracts the hyper inflammation and immune impairment caused by the surgical stress response, promoting wound healing, reducing infection rates, and shortening length of stay.The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism recommends a daily protein intake of 1.5 g kg_1 ideal body weight in surgical patients to limit nitrogen losses--double the normal daily requirement.It is clear from the literature that poor nutritional status is associated with poor postoperative
outcomes; length of stay, infectious complications, readmission rates, and mortality are all adversely affected.Whey protein is under consideration as a high-quality, highly bioavailable source of essential amino acids.