Experiences and barriers of patients during the oral intake rehabilitation period following esophagectomy: a qualitative study

Patients after esophagectomy often face challenges in oral intake rehabilitation and nutritional management, which may affect rehabilitation outcomes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 patients during the oral intake rehabilitation period following esophagectomy, who attended follow-up visits between April and May 2025. The participants were 1 to 10 months post-surgery at the time of interview. All interviews were conducted face-to-face by a trained nursing postgraduate student experienced in qualitative research. The collected data were analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step method. Four themes and eleven subthemes were identified: (i) Challenges in adapting to oral intake (forced changes in eating habits, prominent gastrointestinal discomfort, and negative emotions related to eating), (ii) coping strategies for oral intake difficulties (different perspectives on dietary practices during recovery, varied information-seeking channels, and differences in awareness of nutritional monitoring), (iii) existing barriers during the oral intake rehabilitation period (difficulties in food selection, ambiguous understanding of the timing of dietary transition, and challenges in calculating nutritional intake), and (iv) needs during the oral intake rehabilitation period (desire for more nutrition-related health education and demand for more accessible consultation platforms). Patients during the oral intake rehabilitation following esophagectomy face multiple barriers and needs. Healthcare professionals should place greater emphasis on patients’ changes in eating habits, symptom burden, and psychological stress during the dietary transition, optimize pre-discharge education, develop dynamic nutritional intervention strategies, promote multidisciplinary collaboration, and establish digital information support platforms to meet patients’ long-term nutritional needs.