[The effectiveness of hypercaloric and hypocaloric postoperative parenteral nutrition in large abdominal surgery. A...

By means of a prospective randomised trial protein turnover and general energy expenditure were measured after stomach or bowel resections in patients receiving either hypercaloric or hypocaloric parenteral nutrition. The results were correlated with the availability of various blood proteins and amino acids as well as the concentration of different substrates of the intermediary metabolism. The results show that there is no need for a hypercaloric parenteral nutrition even after major abdominal surgery. Apart of a slightly better nitrogenbalance, which is, however, connected with an increased nitrogen impact on the organism there was no advantage over hypocaloric intravenous nutrition at least until the fifth day after the operation.