[Anthropometric evolution and gastrointestinal complaints in oral nutritional supplementation and enteral nutritional...

To compare the evolution of anthropometric variables and the occurrence of adverse effects related to the ingestion of nutritional food supplements and enteral diet administration in hospitalized patients.

The study was performed in the Clinical Medicine wards of the Hospital of the School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, USP, with 10 patients receiving nutrition supplements, and 20 patients under enteral nutrition therapy, paired by gender, age (50 +/- 21 vs 49 +/- 23 years) and basic afflictions. All were volunteers submitted to anthropometric evaluation at the beginning and end of nutritional therapy, utilizing standard techniques. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied daily referring to gastrointestinal complaints. Statistical differences between onset and final results (t-test for dependent samples) and between-group differences (t-test for independent samples) were estimated.

Arm muscle circumference increased in patients receiving enteral nutrition therapy (80 +/- 15 vs 85 +/- 15% adequacy, p = 0.009) and decreased in those receiving nutritional supplements (96 +/- 14 vs 92 +/- 14% adequacy, p = 0.04). Nausea and vomiting were more frequent in the latter (60 vs 10%, p = 0.01); complaints about taste of the products were reported by 30% of the cases.

Patients who received oral nutrition supplements reported gastrointestinal complaints and had a less favorable anthropometric evolution. Study data did not disclose the benefit of routine nutrition supplements for hospitalized patients.