Parenteral nutrition: new advances and observations

There has been a considerable amount of work in the field of parenteral nutrition over the last year. Although none of this has been truly mold-breaking, there are sufficient new directions that a review is a worthwhile exercise.

The arguments in favor of parenteral feeding in acute pancreatitis continue to become weaker. Intravenous nutrition as an alternative to major surgery in Crohn disease should be considered. A series of new, and not so new, complications is reviewed, together with a range of means by which problems may be avoided. New approaches to the avoidance or treatment of the rare case of intravenous nutrition-associated liver disease are discussed.

The parenteral approach remains an important method of nutritional support: recent data help to ensure its safer and more effective implementation.