Abstract: Objective: To explore the correlation between the Dietary Inflammation Index (DII) and the severity of gastrointestinal-related core symptoms in patients with prophylactic ileostomy for rectal cancer, and to scientifically guide diets, improve symptoms and life quality of those patients. Methods: A total of 555 rectal cancer patients who underwent prophylactic ileostomy from December 2023 to March 2024 were selected for the study. Data were collected using a general information questionnaire, a simplified version of the Dietary Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ25), and MD Anderson Symptom Inventory with gastrointestinal cancer (MDASI-GI). Additionally, the Spearman correlation test was used to explore the correlation between the dietary inflammation indices and the severity of patients' gastrointestinal-related core symptoms. Results: The dietary inflammation index was categorized into three levels using the trichotomous method: low level (184 patients with a DII<167.82), medium level (186 patients with a DII between 167.82 and 233.08), and high level (185 patients with a DII>233.08). The DII was negatively correlated with patients’ core symptoms and the total score of the scale (P<0.05), not correlated with symptom interference (P>0.05) and positively correlated with their diarrhea scores (P<0.05). Conclusion: The symptoms of rectal cancer patients with prophylactic ileostomy were correlated with the DII. Dietary guidance according to the DII for patients with prophylactic ileostomy could be implemented to relieve gastrointestinal symptoms and improve their quality of life.

Key words: ileostomy; Dietary Inflammatory Index; symptom; quality of life