The value of intensive nutritional support in pancreatitis.
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Acute Disease↗
Biomedical subjects
R M Craig
Publications and source records attributed to R M Craig.
The clinical evaluation of plasma fibronectin as a marker for nutritional depletion and repletion and as a measure of nitrogen balance.
Plasma fibronectin has been suggested as a possible marker for nutritional repletion or depletion. This study was undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of plasma fibronectin in patients who received intense nutritional support. Twenty-seven patients referred to our Nutritional Support Services were followed for 3 to 5 wk; 22 received parenteral hyperalimentation alone, two received enteral alone, and three received a combination of both. Plasma fibronectin, serum albumin, serum transferrin, total lymphocyte counts, and 24-hr urine nitrogen balance studies were performed weekly; anthropometric measurements were performed every other week. Plasma fibronectin concentration, measured by laser nephelometry, showed a significant rise (p less than 0.005) in all patients after 1 wk of nutritional therapy; however, there was no significant difference among the subsequent weeks. Plasma fibronectin did not correlate with nitrogen balance studies, serum albumin, or total lymphocyte counts. A correlation between serum transferrin and plasma fibronectin was found not to be clinically useful. Thus, plasma fibronectin is sensitive to nutritional repletion after 1 wk of therapy, but is not useful thereafter. The relationship among nutritional status, immunologic function, plasma fibronectin, and other serum proteins are discussed.
Adult↗
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomies: a prospective evaluation and review of the literature.
The results of the first 55 consecutive percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomies (PEGs) that were performed over an 18-month period in a tertiary care center are presented. We followed these cases prospectively to assess the morbidity, mortality, staff acceptance, short-and long-term complications, and cost effectiveness of the technique. Fifty-one (93%) were successful with no mortality. Long-term morbidity included 6/55 (11%) tube extrusions; 5/55 (9%) cellulitis around the catheter site; 5/55 (9%) aspiration pneumonias; and 2/55 (3.6%) clogged tubes requiring replacement. Morbidity was considered minor and easily dealt with in all but five instances (9%) where more prolonged treatment was required. A review of the literature including other techniques used for percutaneous gastrostomy is also presented. It is concluded that percutaneous gastrostomies are relatively safe, cost-effective, and should be given first consideration for long-term enteral therapy in appropriate patients.
Adolescent↗
Intravenous nutritional support during pregnancy.
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Amino Acids↗
Percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy: a dual center safety and efficacy trial.
Although jejunal tube placement through a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) has not been proven to be preferable to PEG feeding, it would be theoretically advantageous for those patients prone to gastrointestinal aspiration. However, reliable placement of a small bowel feeding tube through a PEG has been technically difficult. We have previously reported successful placement of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy (PEG/J) with minimal complications. These results are in contrast to other series that report technical difficulty, frequent tube dysfunction and gastric aspiration. We describe an over-the-wire PEG/J technique performed by multiple operators at two medical centers. Gastrostomy tube placement was successful in 94% of patients. Initial placement of the jejunal tube was successful in 88% of patients. Second attempts were 100% successful. The average procedure time was 36 minutes. The distal duodenal and jejunal placement of the jejunal tube resulted in no episodes of gastroduodenal reflux. Complications included jejunal tube migration (6%), clogging (18%), and unintentional removal (11%). The majority of patients were ultimately converted to either oral or intragastric feedings. We conclude that the PEG/J system is a reliable, reproducible method of small bowel feeding and is associated with no episodes of tube feeding reflux when the jejunal tube is positioned in the distal duodenum or beyond. Furthermore, it provides a temporary nutritional bridge for those patients who are later transitioned to either PEG or oral feeding.
Adult↗
Albumin kinetics in hypoalbuminemic patients receiving total parenteral nutrition.
BACKGROUND: By using undenatured purified albumin preparations radiolabeled with iodine, the half-life of serum albumin in well patients who are stable is known to be approximately 17 days. However, when a patient is suffering with an acute illness such as sepsis, trauma, burns or after an extensive operative procedure, the serum albumin level decreases. It is not known whether this fall in serum albumin is due to increased catabolism, decreased synthesis, or a combination of both factors. This study explores the kinetics of albumin catabolism under these circumstances to clarify the issue. METHODS: 125I-labeled albumin was administered intravenously to 10 critically ill, hypoalbuminemic patients receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Each subject had frequent blood samples taken for at least 10 days to measure the decline of plasma radioactivity over time. None was receiving unlabeled albumin during the investigation. It was assumed that the plasma decay would follow first-order kinetics after the early equilibration phase. Radioactivity of heparinized blood samples (counts/2 mL sample) were counted and the results were graphically expressed. RESULTS: One subject was not evaluated because he was discharged on the 8th day. The APACHE (acute physiology and chronic health evaluation) score for the other nine subjects ranged from 4 to 18 (mean, 7.5). The serum albumin remained below 3.0 g/dL in each subject and did not change statistically throughout the study. The radioiodinated albumin half-life ranged from 5.52 to 11.76 days (mean 9.10 days; compared with published normal of approximately 17 days). The equilibration time was 3 to 7 days. The average albumin catabolized for this group is similar to previously reported normal subjects, 0.18 g/kg/d. CONCLUSION: Hypoalbuminemic patients receiving TPN have markedly shortened plasma albumin half-lives, but the albumin catabolized per day is similar to normal patients. These data argue for both a synthetic and catabolic defect that explains the hypoalbuminemia in this patient group.
APACHE↗
Physiologic response to a protein, carbohydrate, fat meal in patients with human immunodeficiency virus who underwent small intestinal enteropathy as characterized by a kinetic model of D-xylose absorption.
PURPOSE: Small intestinal human immunodeficiency virus enteropathy is characterized by profound absorptive dysfunction unrelated to histology or pathogens. Frequently an attempt is made to compensate for this intestinal failure by supplementing nutrient intake with nourishing liquid meals. It is not known how the diminished absorptive function in these patients will respond to this intake. With the use of a D-xylose kinetic model of absorption, we determined the absorptive response of patients with small intestinal enteropathy to an isotonic liquid feeding. METHODS: Seven male patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), diarrhea, weight loss, and no detectable pathogens (stool studies and duodenal biopsy) were enrolled. After an overnight fast, the patients were studied on three separate days. On day 1, the patients received 15 g oral D-xylose. On day 2, 10 g i.v. D-xylose was given. On day 3, 15 g oral D-xylose was again given along with 250 mL of a liquid polymeric isotonic diet. Serum and urine collections were obtained to calculate the kinetic rate constants and extent of D-xylose absorption. RESULTS: Mean values for the rate constant for absorption of D-xylose, Ka, (0.26/h; N > 0.65) and the rate constant for nonabsorptive loss, K0' (2.47/h; N < 0.353) were very abnormal before the meal. Mean K0 improved (decreased to 0.66), but Ka and bioavailability, F, did not have a statistically significant change after the meal. The improvement in mean K0 with the meal was much more pronounced in the five subjects with high K0 values before the meal (without meal 3.22: with meal 0.67; p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: (1) An isotonic liquid polymeric diet leads to less nonabsorptive loss of D-xylose, but does not affect the extent of D-xylose absorption in this group as a whole. This is probably due to the meal slowing gastric emptying. (2) Improvement in nonabsorptive loss with a meal is most pronounced when there is excessive nonabsorptive loss, K0, without a meal. (3) Improvement in nonabsorptive losses with a meal might predict which patients will benefit from antimotility agents and continued feedings vs those requiring i.v. hyperalimentation.
Administration, Oral↗
Hypermanganesemia in patients receiving total parenteral nutrition.
BACKGROUND: Manganese is one of the trace elements that is routinely administered to total parenteral nutrition (TPN) patients. The recommended daily IV dosage ranges from 100 to 800 MICROg. We have used 500 microg daily. Recent reports have suggested neurologic symptoms seen in some patients receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN) may be due to hypermanganesemia. Therefore, HPN patients and some short-term inpatients receiving TPN were studied to ascertain the relationship between dose and blood levels. METHODS: Red blood cell manganese levels were obtained by atomic absorptiometry. RESULTS: The levels in 36 hospitalized, short-term patients obtained within 48 hours of initiating TPN were all normal. The 30 patients receiving TPN from 3 to 30 days had levels that ranged from 4.8 to 28 microg/L (normal, 11 to 23 microg/L). Two patients had abnormal levels, at days 14 and 18. Fifteen of the 21 patients receiving inpatient TPN or HPN for 36 to 5075 days had elevated Mn levels. Only one patient with hypermanganesemia, an inpatient, had abnormal biochemical liver tests (bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase). One of the patients with a high level had some vestibular symptoms attributed to aminoglycoside use and had increased signal density in the globus pallidus on T1-weighted images on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A second patient with Mn levels twice normal had no neurologic symptoms, but had similar MRI findings. A third had some basal ganglia symptoms, confirmed by a neurologic evaluation, seizures, and very high Mn levels. The MRI showed no signal enhancement, but motion artifacts limited the study technically. CONCLUSIONS: Hypermanganesemia is seen in HPN patients receiving 500 microg manganese daily and may have resulted in some neurologic damage in three patients. Hypermanganesemia is sometimes seen after a short course of TPN in inpatients, as early as 14 days. Patients should be monitored for hypermanganesemia if they receive Mn in their TPN for >30 days. A 500 microg/d dose of Mn is probably excessive, and 100 microg/d should probably never be exceeded. Mn should be eliminated from the solution if the Mn level is elevated and should not be readministered unless the level returns to normal or subnormal. Mn should not be supplemented if the patient has liver disease with an elevated bilirubin.
Adolescent↗