[Parenteral nutrition in pediatric patients: indications and complications in third level]

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a mixture that covers the nutritional needs when enteral nutrition is not an option; however, PN is not free of complications. The aim of our study was to determine the indication and frequency of NP complications in pediatric patients treated at a tertiary center.

Children receiving PN at the Hospital de Pediatría del Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI were included. Demographic and anthropometric characteristics were recorded, as well as the reason of indicating PN, the time of administration, and the complications associated to this type of nutrition.

Sixty-nine pediatric patients with PN were included: 33 neonates, 18 infants (between one and 11 months of age), nine preschoolers (from 1 to 5 years of age), and nine children over five years of age. Instructions for initiating the PN were given for the treatment of 71 % of the patients with diseases of the digestive tract who were treated surgically. Complications of PN occurred in 87 % of the children and 76.7 % had more than one complication. Metabolic complications occurred in 98 % of the children while mechanical and infectious complications only in 1 %, respectively.

Parenteral nutrition was indicated more frequently in pediatric patients with digestive diseases treated surgically. Metabolic complications were the main concern in pediatric patients with PN.