Nutritional intake of gut failure patients on home parenteral nutrition

Nutrient intake patterns were analyzed in 23 patients with gut failure who were receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN). All patients had stable weights without changes in intravenous calories or protein for 3 consecutive months. Our objectives were to assess oral intake of calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein, to examine relationships between oral nutrient intakes and disease categories, and to compare oral and intravenous intakes to calculated resting energy expenditure (REE). Two patterns of oral nutrient intake were identified among the patients. Patients with short bowel syndrome, regardless of the underlying disease, consumed calories by mouth that clearly exceeded calculated resting energy expenditure (short bowel, non-Crohn's, 170% of REE; short bowel, Crohn's, 200 of REE); however, calories approximating the REE had to be given via HPN, suggesting that efficiency of absorption was at a very low level. Patients with diffuse gut diseases (radiation enteritis or pseudo-obstruction syndromes) had very low intakes of oral nutrients. The distribution of oral calories among carbohydrate, protein, and fat did not differ among the disease categories.