Risk stratification of postoperative enteral feeding intolerance using explainable machine learning in oral cancer free flap reconstruction (opens in new tab)

BackgroundEnteral nutrition (EN) is essential after free flap reconstruction for oral cancer; however, feeding intolerance (FI) frequently limits adequate nutritional delivery. Existing prediction tools are primarily derived from general intensive care unit populations and may not adequately reflect the unique metabolic and inflammatory vulnerabilities of this surgical cohort. We aimed to develop and internally validate an interpretable machine learning model for the early prediction of posto...