[Complementary artificial nutrition in kidney failure]

Denutrition of the uremic patient is a substantial contributing factor to the high rate of morbimortality. At the present time there are no resources which slow the catabolic situation conditioned by humoral or hormonal factors, but resources are available which act on the nutritional factors. The aim of this paper is to study the effect of additional administration of a complete enteral diet, but high in calories and in proteins, on the nutrition of dialysis patients. Six patients undergoing periodic hemodialysis and without metabolic illness were selected: 236 ml of the solution was administered orally on a daily basis for two months. They were studied statistically using the SIGMA Program, with application of the comparison of paired averages, the variations of anthropometric and analytical data and urea kinetics. The results revealed a significant body weight increase, from 58 to 60 kg, and of the tricipital fold from 10 to 12 cm: both variations were statistically significant (p < 0.01). There were no variations in the analytical data, or in the urea kinetics (the PCR was 0.8 g/kg/day and the Kt/V was 0.8). It is concluded that it significantly improves the nutritional state, there are no side effects and it does not detract from the efficacy of the dialysis. Therefore, and although the indication for which it was designed was for predialysis patients, we think that those under periodic hemodialysis--and, form the same reasons, acute kidney failure patients--might be areas for the use of this product.