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

NCT07159659 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: MCT Study Protocol version 1.1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 210
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief 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

Keywords

Medium Chain Triglyceride Diet; Lung Resection; Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• hospital length of stay (LOS)

  hospital length of stay (LOS), which is hypothesized to be reduced following the administration of an MCT diet. Currently, patients undergoing lobectomy using VATS have a median LOS of approximately 3-4 days. The study aims to investigate whether MCT diet interventions can reduce this to 2 days, representing a 30% reduction in hospital stay.

  From the end of the lung resection procedure until the time of patient discharge, assessed up to 7 days post-surgery

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Total Chest Drain Output (mL)

  From the end of the lung resection procedure until the time of chest drain removal assessed up to 7 days post-surgery

• Patient Satisfaction and Tolerability

  Upon discharge (assessed up to 7 days post-surgery), 2 weeks post discharge, 3 months post discharge

• Number of Participants with Symptoms Associated with MCT Diet

  Upon discharge (assessed up to 7 days post-surgery), 2 weeks post discharge, 3 months post discharge

• Number of patients with Infection symptoms

  Upon discharge (assessed up to 7 days post-surgery), 2 weeks post discharge, 3 months post discharge

• Number of patients with infection risk

  Upon discharge (assessed up to 7 days post-surgery), 2 weeks post discharge, 3 months post discharge

Study Arms (3)

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

Patients in the control group will receive a standard hospital diet consistent with routine postoperative nutritional care after lobectomy with lymph node dissection. This diet does not include medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) supplementation and serves as a comparator to evaluate the effects of the MCT diet on postoperative recovery

MCT diet during hospital stay

EXPERIMENTAL

Patients will receive a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT)-enriched diet during their hospital stay following lobectomy with lymph node dissection. The MCT diet is administered as part of the postoperative nutritional regimen to evaluate its impact on recovery outcomes

Dietary Supplement: MCT Diet

MCT diet during hospital stay and 2 weeks after discharge

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will receive a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) diet during their hospital stay and for two weeks following discharge. This aims to evaluate the effects of continued MCT dietary supplementation on postoperative recovery outcomes after lobectomy with lymph node dissection

Dietary Supplement: MCT Diet

Interventions

MCT Diet DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

MCT diet for patients following lung resection

MCT diet during hospital stay; MCT diet during hospital stay and 2 weeks after discharge

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 80 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age between 18 - 80 years
• Body mass index \<35 kg/m2
• Suitable for minimally invasive surgery
• Willingness to participate as demonstrated by giving informed consent
• Project-specific Criteria:
• \. Patients performed lobectomy with lymph node dissection

You may not qualify if:

• Contraindication to general anesthesia
• Severe concomitant illness that drastically shortens life expectancy or increases the risk of therapeutic intervention
• Untreated active infection
• Non-correctable coagulopathy
• Emergency surgery
• Vulnerable population (e.g. mentally disabled, pregnancy)
• Project-specific Criteria
• Segmentectomy
• Pleurodesis
• Esophageal procedures
• Redo/readmitted patients for lung resection
• Chylothorax (Triglyceride \> 110 mL, excluded at day 1 routine lab check)
• Air leak (\> 30 mL/min when back to ward)
• Heart Failure
• Renal failure (estimated GFR \< 30; CKD grading stage 4-5)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Chinese University of Hong Kong: lead

Study Sites (1)

Prince of Wales Hospital

Shatin, Hong Kong

RECRUITING

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Thoracic Neoplasms

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms

Central Study Contacts

Calvin Sze Hang Ng

CONTACT

+852 3505 2618; calvinng@surgery.cuhk.edu.hk

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 22, 2025
• First Posted: September 8, 2025
• Study Start: March 19, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 28, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 30, 2027
• Last Updated: March 20, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

HK (1)