[Epidemiology of parenteral nutrition during 5 years of follow-up by a nutrition team]. / Epidemiología de la nutrición parenteral a lo largo de cinco años de seguimiento por parte de un equipo de nutrición.

The purpose of this retrospective study is to ascertain the physiopathological characteristics of patients on parenteral nutrition (PN), the types of diet used and duration of treatment. Presentation of epidemiological results and evolution of 637 adults receiving PN after a five-year period of nutritional follow-up, conducted by a Nutrition Team (NT) in hospital. For the purpose of this study, we used the Follow-Up charts of all the patients treated with PN from 1986-1990. The results obtained lead us to affirm that most patients suffered a malignant gastrointestinal process, that the duration of the PN was reduced significantly during the five-year term, mainly using dietary protocols, and that there was a gradual increase in preparations of nutrient units subjected to controls compared to the total prepared by the Pharmacy Department.

[Effect of total parenteral nutrition on bone metabolism]. / Efecto de la nutrición parenteral total en el metabolismo óseo.

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) for a prolonged period of time can be associated with bone pain and osteomalacia. We performed a study on the phosphorus/calcium metabolism and serum levels of osteocalcin (BGP), a protein proposed as constituting the bone turnover index in 31 patients receiving TPN (age 57 +/- 14 years, 22 males and 9 females) diagnosed as suffering from pathology of the digestive tract or geno-urinary pathology. The duration of the TPN was from 9.1 +/- 6.6 days (range 2-31 days). We observed and increase of FA (178 +/- 101 U/l), with a significant decrease of BGP (2.2 +/- 2.0 ng/ml vs. 3.7 +/- 1.3 ng/ml in controls; p less than 0.001). Serum levels of phosphorus and calcium corrected according to proteins were within normal limits. Hypercalciuria was detected in the urine (328 +/- 278 mg/24 hours), and phosphaturia (607 +/- 522 mg/24 hours). Based on the BGP results, we can conclude that patients subjected to TPN for a short period of time undergo a decrease in bone turnover.

[Stability of folic acid and vitamin B12 in TPN]. / Estabilidad del ácido fólico y vitamina B12 en NPT.

The stability of folic acid (FA) in mixtures of Total Parenteral Nutrition has been and is a controversial subject, with discussion concerning the influence of factors such as temperature, light and storage time. As regards the stability of the vitamin B12, there are few studies in scientific literature. For all those reasons, we consider it necessary to make a proper study to evaluate the influence of different factors in the stability of both vitamins. The study was made on 3 liter TPN bags of the EVA type, the composition of which was as follows: AA (85g), glucosa (225g), fat (50g), Na (86mEq), K (60 mEq), Ca (15 mEq), Cl (90 mEq), P (17 mmol) acetate (149 mEq) and 10 ml of MVI-12 which contain 400 micrograms of PA and 5 micrograms of Vitamin B 12. Consideration was also given to the stability of these two vitamins in the same diet, to which were added 10 ml of a commercial preparation of oligo-elements. Six TPN bags were prepared (without oligo-elements); two of them were kept in a fridge and protected from the light, two were kept at room temperature and protected from the light and the other two at room temperature without protection from the light. Samples were taken from all the bags immediately after their preparation and after 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The same process was carried with other TPN bags which did contain oligo-elements. The method for determining FA and Vitamin B12 was by radioassay.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)