[Nutritional evaluation and use of a nutritional complement in children undergoing periodical hemodialysis]

Six uremic dhildren in periodic hemodialysis with protein-calorie malnutrition were studied. Three of them were given diet supplementation with a compound constituted by carbohydrates and essential amino acids. Evaluation at ,3 and 6 months with somatometry, rutine laboratory analysis, intravenous glucose tolerance test and plasma amino acid determinations, showed that patients with diet supplementation had a slight increase in height and body weight, improved glucose in tolerance, that was initialy detected, and an abnormal pattern of plasma amino acids not modified during the study. Patients without diet supplementation showed no changes in height, body weight, glucose tolerance and plasma amino acids. These results suggest that diet supplementation with carbohydrates and amino acids is useful to improve nutrition in uremic children on hemodialysis, but it is neccesary to study more patients.