Parenteral Nutrition in the ICU: lessons learned over the last few years

Complete parenteral nutrition (PN) in its modern form was invented by Arvid Wretlind in 1961 in Sweden [1] and almostsimultaneously by Stanley Dudrick in the U.S. [2]. Nearly sixty years later, PN has become a well-established therapy that has enabled the survival of thousands of patients with gastro-intestinal failure [3]. While having evolved significantly with major improvements over the last 20 years, its use in the critically ill continues to generate debate. Being easier to deliver than enteral nutrition (EN), PN became overused in many ICUs, and was associated with more metabolic and infectious complications than EN.
Source: Nutrition - Category: Nutrition Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research