Eighteen patients requiring intensive outpatient nutritional support were prospectively reviewed to compare the application of enteral and parenteral approaches. Nine patients received home enteral nutritional support (HEN) for a period of 2 to 15 months via Micro Feeding jejunostomy (MFJ) tubes. The other nine patients received home parenteral nutritional support (HPN) for a period of 3 of 32 months via Broviac catheters. The nine patients on HEN for a period of 2 to 15 months had a mean increase in weight, tricep skinfold thickness, arm muscle circumference, and serum albumin of 9.9 kg (p less than 0.001), 2.5 mm (p less than 0.01), 3.7 cm (p less than 0.05), and 0.73 g/dl (p less than 0.02), respectively. One patient suffered accidental loss of the MFJ tube; otherwise there were no significant complications. The nine patients on HPN for a period of 3 to 32 months had a mean increase in weight, triceps skinfold thickness, arm muscle circumference, and serum albumin of 8.5 kg (p less than .001), 3.5 mm (p less than 0.05), 3.4 cm (p less than 0.05), and 1.09 g/dl (p less than 0.001), respectively. Three patients each experienced one episode of catheter sepsis. These complications were far more serious than arising from the MFJ tube. In addition, the average cost of HPN was found to be 10 to 20 times greater than that of HEN. It is concluded that HEN should be selected over HPN as the course of therapy in all possible cases and that the MFJ tube is a safe, useful, and cost-effective approach.
The rate of fat emulsion clearance from the blood of 10 healthy adult male volunteers administered 0.1 gram of fat per kilogram body weight as 10% or 20% safflower oil emulsion (Liposyn) was studied. The subjects were hospitalized for 2 days and each was given the predetermined amount of one of the two fat emulsions (10% or 20%) by rapid injection into a peripheral vein and the rate of clearance of the emulsion determined over a 60-minute period, beginning when half of the emulsion had been injected. There was no significant difference in the clearance rate between the two emulsions. It is concluded that 20% fat emulsion is a safe as 10% fat emulsion for use in intravenous nutritional support.
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