ObjectiveTo investigate the guidance of preoperative nutritional risk screening in perioperative nutrition support for colon cancer, in order to provide evidence for the rationally clinical application of nutrition support. MethodsNutritional risk screening was carried out in 95 hospitalized patients with colon cancer who were treated in the Liao He Oil Center Hospital from Jul. 2012 to Jul. 2014, with the nutritional risk screening 2002 score summary table. Patients were divided into nutritional risk group and non-nutritional risk group according to the screening results, and postoperative bowel function recovery and nutritional indicators were compared between patients who received perioperative nutrition support according to the screening results and those who did not. ResultsThere were 29 patients received perioperative nutrition support among 53 patients at nutritional risk and 19 patients received perioperative nutrition support among 42 patients without nutritional risk. Among 53 patients at nutritional risk, the time to first flatus, time to first defecation, hospital stay, postoperative complications rate, and postoperative recurrence/metastasis rate of patients who received perioperative nutrition support were shorter or lower than those of patients who didn't receive perioperative nutrition support (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in mortality (P≥0.05); in addition, the levels of albumin, prealbumin, and transferring on 7-day after surgery were all higher in patients received perioperative nutrition support (P<0.05). Among 42 patients without nutritional risk, there was no significant difference in time to first flatus, time to first defecation, hospital stay, postoperative complications rate, postoperative recurrence/metastasis rate, and levels of albumin, prealbumin, and transferring on 1- and 7-day after surgery between patients received perioperative nutrition support and those who did not (P>0.05). ConclusionsIt is important to evaluate the nutritional risk in hospitalized patients with colon cancer. Nutritional support is benefical to the patients with nutritional risk, but it isn't necessary to patients without nutritional risk.