Objective To assess the feasibility and safety of early enteral nutrition (EEN) after surgical treatment of upper digestive tract malformation in newborns.Methods The clinical data of 85 newborns with with duodenal or jejunal congenital intestinal obstruction who were treated in our hospital from January 2010 to January 2013 were retrospectively analyzed.These 85 cases were divided into two groups according to the application (or not) of the EEN:the EEN group (n =37),in which the patients were intraoperatively placed with nasal intestinal feeding tube and received postoperative early enteral nutrition; the control group (n =48),in which the patients were not intraopratively placed with enteral nutrition tube and underwent oral feeding after the recovery of gastrointestinal function.The potential difference of two groups in fetal age,birth weight,age and time of operation,length of hospital stay,days of total parenteral nutrition,intestinal function recovery time (the time of postoperative oral feeding and postoperative oral feeding of 40 ml/3 h),cost,complications,and growth/development were compared.Results The gestational age,birth weight,age,disease distribution,and nutrition-related indicators showed no significant difference between the two groups (all P ＞0.05).The operation time [(110.5 ± 14.9) min vs (110.0 ± 15.3) min] and postoperative oral feeding time [(11.7 ±4.2) days vs (12.3 ±2.9) days] was not significantly different.However,the first defecation time after operation [(50.1±16.6) hours vs (60.4±21.3) hours],oral feeding time 40 ml/3 h [(17.9±6.0)days vs (21.3 ± 7.5) days],total parenteral nutrition duration [(14.5 ± 5.5) days vs (17.8 ± 7.5) days],length of hospital stay [(19.4 ±6.2) days vs (23.1 ± 8.3) days],and hospitalization expenses [(20 022.7 ±4 615.1)yuan vs (23 036.4 ± 5 877.7) yuan] in EEN group were significantly shorter than those in control group (all P ＜ 0.05).There were no catheter-related complications such as intestinal perforation,intestinal volvulus,and plugging and no adhesive ileus,vomiting,or cholestasis in EEN group; in contrast,three cases of functional intestinal obstruction and three cases of adhesive ileus were reported in the control group.Also,the incidences of vomiting and cholestasis significantly increased in the control group.Follow-up (mean:1.8 years; range:6 months-3years) showed that the growth and development indicators were not significantly different between these two groups.Conclusions EEN through nasal intestinal feeding tube after surgical treatment of congenital duodenal or jejunal deformity in newborns is simple and with few complications and short application time.It helps to promote the neonatal intestinal function recovery and improves feeding tolerance.