Aggressive oral refeeding in hospitalized patients

Malnutrition is an important clinical condition leading to increased morbidity and mortality. This report describes an aggressive oral refeeding program of high-caloric foods, which was instituted in severely anorectic patients because of their refusal to eat meals or supplements. After ascertaining a patient's favorite sweet, hospital personnel and family collaborated in providing the food. Frequently, sweets were the patient's only intake for weeks. We saw a gradual return of appetite, inclusion of other foods in the diet, and overall clinical improvement in comorbid conditions. These cases suggest that aggressive oral refeeding with high-caloric foods is an underutilized therapy for multiply impaired elderly patients.