Home parenteral nutrition in Tayside 1980-1992

The experience of Home Parenteral Nutrition (HPN) in Tayside over the last 13 years has been reviewed with particular reference to the indications for, complications of, and quality of life whilst receiving HPN. The observed complication rate has been compared with that of the UK experience, and the observed complication rate for the first seven years of HPN experience has been compared with the subsequent six years. The Tayside experience equates broadly with that of the UK, although there was a different pattern of complications. Increasing experience with HPN has resulted in a fall in HPN related complications to 1 per 3.4 treatment years in Tayside, a rate as low as that of the most experienced HPN centre in the UK.