[Coagulation and total parenteral nutrition: the effect of 2 lipid emulsions]

Among the general complications caused by total parenteral nutrition (TPN), the hematological alterations play an important role, and they have been related to the lipid emulsions. With the objective of studying the influence of two lipid emulsions on the hemocoagulation of patients with TPN, we have done a prospective and double blind study in which 21 patients were randomized into two groups to receive TPN which included lipid emulsions and other components, Group I (n = 10) received a 20% LCT lipid emulsion with the TPN, and group II (n = 11) received a 20% MCT-LCT (50-50) lipid emulsion with the TPN. The following were then studied: activated cephalin time, prothrombin time, percentage of prothrombin time, thrombin and fibrinogen time, hemogram, and proteinogram. The basal values of both groups were similar and after eight days there were no differences in any of the variables when comparing the two groups. We came to the conclusion that both lipid emulsions behaved in a similar fashion, both were clinically well tolerated and neither produced by alteration in hemocoagulation.