Related Experiment Videos
[Enteral nutrition in severe ulcerative colitis. Digestive tolerance and nutritional efficiency]
J Klaassen1, R Zapata, J G Mella
1Departamentos de Nutrición, Gastroenterología y Cirugía Digestiva, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Backgrounds And Aims:
Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) has been traditionally used as an adjunctive therapy in severe ulcerative colitis patients. We performed a prospective study to ascertain the safety, nutritional efficiency, tolerance and costs of total enteral nutrition in this situation.
Methods:
After 48 hours of intensive medical treatment, severe ulcerative colitis patients initiated enteral feeding with a polymeric formula. The formula concentration and volume were increased daily.
Results:
17 patients (7 women, 10 men; age 36.8 +/- 12.8 years) with a mean clinical activity score of 15.6 +/- 1.5 were included. In 14 patients (82.4%) enteral nutrition was well tolerated, attaining in 11 of them more than 80% of the caloric requirements by day 4. In 3 cases we observed vomiting and bloating. Prealbumin levels improved significantly from 11.1 +/- 3.4 mg/dl to 22.7 +/- 6.8 mg/dl (p = 0.002) at the end of enteral nutrition (11.8 +/- 4.7 days). Albumin and other nutritional parameters did not change.
Conclusions:
Total enteral nutrition could be considered a safe and well tolerated nutritional support in these patients. Although albumin and other nutritional parameters did not change during the study period, the increase in prealbumin levels suggests a favourable anabolic effect of total enteral nutrition.