Utilization of parenterally administered glucose oligosaccharides when infused with glucose and amino acids in postsurgical patients

Utilization of intravenously administered oligosaccharides was tested in postsurgical patients by infusing them simultaneously with glucose and amino acids. Thirty two patients were infused with one of two parenteral regimens for four-day periods. Twenty-two patients received a nutritional regimen providing 46 g glucose, 32.5 g amino acids, and 45 g oligosaccharides per liter, while the remaining ten patients received the same solution without oligosaccharides. Patients infused with the test solution received an overall four-day mean +/- SD of 106 +/- 24.2 g oligosaccharide per day. The mean overall four-day excretion of total glucose (free plus oligosaccharide bound) was significantly higher (P less than 0.001) in patients infused with oligosaccharides (46.1 +/- 29.0 g/d) than in reference patients (1.19 +/- 1.20 g/d). Of the total carbohydrate excreted in patients receiving oligosaccharides, 11.3 +/- 13.1 g/d were glucose, 14.8 +/- 13.1 g/d were maltose plus maltotriose, and 20.8 +/- 19.3 g/d were oligosaccharides of maltotetraose size or larger. Although overall utilization of infused oligosaccharide for all patients was only 58.5% +/- 23.1%, three of the patients showed unexpectedly good utilization (94.6% +/- 1.24%).