Improving the Quality of Life of Cancer Patients Through a Perioperative and Coordinated Nutrition and Physical Care Program.

Hospitalization, for cancer patients, exposes to a risk of undernutrition which has the effect of significantly increasing infections, pressure ulcers, muscle wasting, loss of autonomy, impaired function and delayed healing. All of these factors contribute to increase the length of stay in hospital, thus lengthening the spiral of undernutrition, which has serious consequences for the patient welbeing, health establishments and public health. Undernutrition has been the subject of many studies over the last twenty years, that outline that an adequate nutritional management exerts a direct effect on the reduction of comorbidities and duration of hospitalization. However, there are periods, in the preoperative course of care, where nutritional and phisical care are not realized in the current clinical practice whereas they could be done, for example, between the diagnosis and the consultation of anesthesia, between the anesthesia consultation and the surgical procedure and the end of hospitalization of the patient. Current management is usually limited to the period of hospitalization which tends to be reduced. This situation is reinforced by the absence of relays at home, dietary consultations being not reimbursed by French health insurance. Moreover, a preliminary survey, conducted in 2012 during the pre-operative outpatient anesthesia consultation, shows that 26% of patients are already clinically malnourished, with 16.5 % of them who have lost more than 10% of their weight.