We have selectively reviewed various aspects of protein and amino acid metabolism and nutrition which we feel are relevant and important in any comprehensive consideration of proteins, peptides, and amino acids in enteral nutrition. These, together with various clinical aspects of the problem that we have not addressed, are covered in more specific detail elsewhere in this volume. Our hope is t...

In a previous randomised controlled trial, we found that glutamine-enriched enteral nutrition in 102 very low birthweight (VLBW) infants decreased both the incidence of serious infections in the neonatal period and the risk of atopic dermatitis during the first year of life. We hypothesised that glutamine-enriched enteral nutrition in VLBW infants in the neonatal period influences the risk of a...

Objective: The present study was aimed at analyzing the impact of enteral nutrition on the maintenance of body weight and on the necessity of replanning and/or interruption of treatment of head and neck cancer patients undergoing intensitymodulated radiotherapy (IMRT). Materials and Methods: Cases of patients submitted to IMRT in the period from January 2005 to October 2008 were retrospectively...

INTRODUCTION Patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) submitted to radiotherapy alone or combined chemoradiotherapy present a high prevalence of malnutrition at baseline. Prophylactic use of gastrostomy has been suggested for these patients for delivering enteral nutrition. On the other hand, other authors have failed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this measure over nasogastric tube feedin...

PURPOSE An overview of enteral feeding tubes, drug administration techniques, considerations for dosage form selection, common drug interactions with enteral formulas, and methods to minimize tube occlusion is given. SUMMARY Enteral nutrition through a feeding tube is the preferred method of nutrition support in patients who have a functioning gastrointestinal tract but who are unable to be f...

BACKGROUND Critically ill patients are susceptible to protein catabolism. Enteral feeding may ameliorate protein loss, but its effect is not well characterized in terms of protein kinetics. OBJECTIVE We established a method of quantifying the effect of enteral protein feeding on whole-body protein turnover and studied critically ill patients receiving early enteral nutrition. DESIGN In a pr...

INTRODUCTION The optimization of enteral nutrition is a priority in preterm neonates worldwide. Probiotics are known to improve gut maturity and function in preterm neonates. To our knowledge, previous systematic reviews have not adequately assessed the effects of probiotic supplementation on enteral nutrition in preterm neonates. OBJECTIVE We assessed the evidence on effects of probiotics on...

Parenteral nutrition offers the possibility of increasing or ensuring nutrient intake in patients in whom normal food intake is inadequate and enteral nutrition is not feasible, is contraindicated or is not accepted by the patient. These guidelines are intended to provide evidence-based recommendations for the use of parenteral nutrition in cancer patients. They were developed by an interdiscip...