Short answer questions 1. Why is it difficult to have an evidence‐based demonstration that artificial nutrition is useful in weight‐losing hypophagic patients undergoing chemotherapy? 2. Why does oral supplementation in weight‐losing cancer patients have a limited efficacy? 3. In patients receiving a full regimen of total parenteral nutrition or enteral nutrition, this nutritional support is un...

At the Mayo Health System in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, there are >1000 infant total parenteral nutrition (TPN) orders placed per year. It is the most complicated order that the pharmacy fills, so a recent peer-review article in Pediatrics moved a group of us to action at our center to buy or develop a TPN calculator. We did this because no stand-alone commercial calculators were available to us, and...

Immunological studies were carried out on 7 neonates maintained on total parenteral nutrition for periods ranging from 14 to 31 days after surgery for correction of gastrointestinal anomalies. IgM and IgA levels were high in all patients but IgG levels were low, compared with normal values. Total leucocyte counts, absolute lymphocyte counts, and T- and B-lymphocytes in all patients were similar...

The benefits of early enteral feeding (EEN) have been demonstrated in gastrointestinal surgery. But, the impact of EEN has not been elucidated yet. We assessed the postoperative nutritional status of patients who had undergone pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) according to the postoperative nutritional method and compared the clinical outcomes of two methods. A prospective randomized trial was under...

OBJECTIVE To know those predictive factors of hyperglycemia that could guide  us the design of a parenteral nutrition and it could avoid later complications associated with it. Methods: A prospective observational study was designed; adult hospitalized patients who received total parenteral nutrition at least 48 hours were included. Nutritional and pharmacotherapeutic follow-up were  performed ...

Acute pancreatitis is a disease with varying severity. Patients with the mild form do not require nutritional support because oral intake is resumed rapidly. Studies on nutritional support in acute pancreatitis have included patients with both mild and severe disease. In this heterogeneous group, total parenteral nutrition did not improve outcome compared with no nutrition at all. This is cause...

Consumption of food and drink is a fundamental part of North American culture. “All-you-can-eat” diners and lavish Thanksgiving turkey dinners are as American as Mom and apple pie. Eating and drinking is a valued social activity; we derive our strength from eating, and for many, the ability to eat and drink symbolizes life itself. The development of artificial nutrition has allowed us to feed p...