A Spanish Society joint SECO and SEEDO approach to the Post-operative management of the patients undergoing surgery for obesity.

PURPOSE: Bariatric surgery is the method of choice for the management or treatment of obesity. Bariatric surgery brings about several physiological changes in the body and is associated with set of complications. The aim of this study is to provide guidelines on post bariatric surgery management based on consensus by the Spanish society for Obesity Surgery (Sociedad Española de Cirugía de la Obesidad) (SECO) and the Spanish Society for the Study of Obesity (Sociedad Española para el Estudio de la Obesidad) (SEEDO). METHOD: The boards proposed seven experts from each society. The experts provided the evidence and a grade of recommendation on the selected topics based on systematic reviews/meta-analysis. A list of clinical practical recommendations levels of evidence and grades of these recommendations was derived from the consensus statements from the members of these societies. RESULTS: Seventeen topics related to post-operative management were reviewed after bariatric surgery. The experts came with 47 recommendations and statements. The mean number of persons voting at each statement was 54 (range 36-76). CONCLUSION: In this consensus, we have designed a set of guidelines to be followed while managing patients after bariatric surgery. Expertise and knowledge of the clinicians are required to convey suitable considerations to the post-bariatric patients. There should also be extensive follow-up plans for the bariatric surgery patients.

Integral nutritional approach to the care of cancer patients: results from a Delphi panel.

INTRODUCTION: Malnutrition is a common complication in cancer patients and can negatively affect the outcome of treatments. This study aimed to reach a consensus on nutritional needs and optimize nutritional care in the management of cancer patients at a national level. METHODS: A qualitative, multicenter, two-round Delphi study involving 52 specialists with experience in nutritional support in cancer patients was conducted. RESULTS: Regarding the presence of malnutrition, 57.7% of the participants stated that < 30% of the patients had malnutrition at the time of diagnosis, 40.4% considered that 31-50% had malnutrition during cancer treatment, and 26.9% that > 50% at the end of the treatment. Forty percent of participants believed that the main objective of nutritional treatment was to improve quality of life and 34.6% to improve tolerability and adherence to chemotherapy. The quality nutritional care provided at their centers was rated as medium-low by 67.3%. Enteral and parenteral nutrition was administered to less than 10% and less than 5% of patients in 40.4 and 76.9% of cases, respectively. In relation to nutritional screening at the time of diagnosis, 62.9% of participants considered than screening to assess the risk of malnutrition was performed in < 30% of patients. CONCLUSIONS: There is an important variability in the management of cancer patient nutrition, which is associated with the absence of a national consensus on nutritional support in this field. Given the incidence of nutritional disorders in cancer patients, a specialist in clinical nutrition (regardless of his/her specialty) should be integrated into the strategic cancer plan.

[Comparison of two types of surgical gastrostomies, open and laparoscopic in home enteral nutrition]. / Comparación entre dos tipos de gastrostomías quirúrgicas, abierta y laparoscópica, en nutrición enteral domiciliaria.

AIM: Exposing the complications of surgical gastrostomies used as way of home enteral nutritional support (HEN) and detecting the differences between the two techniques used in our environment: Open Surgery vs Laparoscopic Surgery. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Retrospective descriptive observational study of the surgical gastrostomies performed between 1994 and 2009 followed up by our unit. Have been analyzed the complications detected in our practice during the follow-up of patients with HEN performed via open laparotomy vs. laparoscopic tecniques, assessing: leaks of gastric fluid to the exterior, abdominal wall irritation, presence of exudate, presence of exudate with positive culture that required antibiotical treatment, burning or loss of substance of the periostomic zone, breach of balloon, decubitus ulcer caused by the tube and formation of granuloma. RESULTS: Between 1994 and 2009, 57 surgical gastrostomies were performed: 47 using the conventional laparotomic (open) tecnique and 10 laparoscopies. The average age of the patients was 57.51 ± 17.29 years old. The most common cause for the performance of surgical gastrostomy was esophageal cancer (38.6%) followed by neurologic alterations (26.3%) and head and neck tumors (26.3%). 97.9% of the patients who underwent to surgical gastrostomy presented at least one complication, meaning that only 2.1% were free of complications; meanwhile, 50% of the patients were laparoscopic gastrostomy was performed had none of these complications. The most common complications were the presence of leaks of gastric fluid and abdominal wall irritation that appeared on 89.4% and 83% respectively of the laparotomic gastrostomies versus the presence of only 30% of both complications in laparoscopic gastrostomies being the difference statistically significant (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: After the introduction of the laparoscopic technique in the performance of surgical gastrostomies has been observed a decrease of the complications occured during the home enteral nutritional support related to surgical gastrostomies.

[Micronutrients in bariatric surgery]. / Micronutrientes en cirugía bariátrica.

The morbid obesity is a chronic disease with increasing prevalence and that associates an important morbility and mortality. The bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment to secure a weight reduction maintained in the time and a diminution in the rates of complications associated to the obesity. The overweight and the obesity are risk factors for the deficit of several micronutrients like vitamins B1, B6, C, folic acid and D, minerals like the iron and trace elements like zinc, generally by dietetic deficit. In spite of it, at the moment a consensus don't exist about the monitoring of micronutrients in the preoperative one, although it seems reasonable in view of his considerable prevalence. The bariatric surgery can bring about deficit of micronutrients or to intensify previous deficiencies, as much by limitation of the ingestion like by the maldigestión and malabsorption in the malabsortives techniques, being the parallel risk to the ponderal loss. It is precise to monitor of by life the different micronutrients, mainly after the malabsortives surgical techniques. The use of a polivitamínic complex of systematic form is recommended and in the cases in which he is insufficient, it will be precise to use specific suplementación.

[Maternal and fetal outcomes in pregnancy following bariatric surgery]. / Resultados materno-fetales de la gestación tras cirugía bariátrica.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is the most frequent metabolic disease in the World, and is associated with several comorbidities. Bariatric procedures arise as a promising treatment when classical approach is ineffective. Half of the operated patients are reproductive-aged women and there is evidence that obesity is related to worse maternal and fetal outcomes. Because nutritional status is affected by bariatric surgery and is a vital component during pregnancy, the aim of our study is to asses the impact of bariatric surgery on pregnancy in these patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We studied 10 women and 15 pregnancies following bariatric surgery between 2003 and 2009. The visits took place every three months by an obstetrician and an endocrinologist with experience in nutrition, recording clinical features and lab work. RESULTS: We found iron deficiency in 80% of the pregnancies, vitamin D in 46,7%, vitamin A in 20%, vitamin E in 13,3% and vitamin B12 in 26,7%. There were no complications during pregnancy, except one case of gravidic hiperemesis. There were nine deliveries without malformations, three of them were small for gestational age newborns and one suffered aspiration pneumonia. There were three stillbirths and one preterm delivery with fetal death. CONCLUSIONS: our results show fewer complications during pregnancy in these women than obese women and similar to general population.

[Causes and impact of hyponutrition and cachexia in the oncologic patient]. / Causas e impacto clinico de la desnutrición y caquexia en el paciente oncológico.

The maximal expression of hyponutrition in cancer is tumoral cachexia, which will direct or indirectly account for mortality in one third of cancer patients. Causes of hyponutrition in cancer are related with the tumor, the patient, or therapies, and summarily we may differentiate four main mechanisms by which hyponutrition may occur in cancer patients: Poor energy and nutrients intake; Impairments of nutrient digestion and/or absorption; Increased demands; Impairments of nutrient metabolism; Any modality of oncologic therapy induces hyponutrition occurrence, especially in those cases in which several therapies are administered to cure cancer (surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy). Hyponutrition in cancer patients produces a decrease in muscle mass, which leads to strength loss, having important consequences on functional status of the individual since it increases dependence on others (relatives, caregivers) and decreases quality of life. Besides, hyponutrition is associated to poorer response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy, or poorer tolerability of such therapies. Hyponutrition also impairs scarring mechanisms and increases the risk for surgical complications such as suture dehiscence or infections. Both infectious complications and surgically derived complications entail longer hospital staying, which contributes to increase management costs. Finally, effects of hyponutrition on mortality should not be neglected, with severe weight loss being associated to lower survival.

[Percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy. Reality in the intra- and extra-community clinical nutritional practice]. / La gastrostomía endoscópica percutánea. Realidad en la práctica nutricional clínica intra y extrahospitalaria.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to review our experience during 8 years in the use of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) and its application in home enteral nutrition (HEN). MATERIAL: We studied 207 patients (56 women and 151 men) who had undergone a PEG from the beginning of 1994 to the end of 2002 as they needed prolonged enteral nutrition (> 4 weeks). In those cases in which home enteral nutrition was programmed, the patients/relatives were trained in the techniques and care of the PEG and EN, and the control was done through the nutrition out-patient clinic. RESULTS: Mean duration time of the PEG was 640 days and 175 patients (84.6%) needed PEG for more than 60 days and 135 for more than 6 months. Mean calorie supply was 1,730 +/- 288 Kcal/day. Administration mode was by intermittent infusion due to seriousness in 162 cases and continuous infusion through volemetric pump in 45 patients. In 2 patients with hyperemesis gravidarum, percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy (PEGJ) was done in the 3rd and 4th month of pregnancy, the pregnancy finishing successfully by vaginal delivery. Performance of PEG facilitated hospital discharge and programming of home enteral nutrition in 195 patients (94%). The most frequent complications were gastrostomy infection that occurred in 41 patients and the appearance of granuloma in the ostomy in 34 cases. Only one patient died in direct relationship due to peritonitis after PEG. CONCLUSION: Our study includes the advantages of PEG as an enteral nutrition technique, permitting the establishment of a home enteral nutrition program with limited incidence of complications and very low mortality.

[Obesity pharmacological treatment]. / Tratamiento farmacológico de la obesidad.

In this clinical observation, we make a small summary of the current state of pharmacological treatment of obesity. The interest in the use of drugs in the treatment of obesity has grown in recent years, upon our knowledge of the biological basis of obesity having increased, and also because non-pharmacological treatments have not succeeded stopping the constant increase of obesity incidence in western countries. Only two drugs are currently approved by the European Agency of the Drug and the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, United States) for the treatment of long-term obesity: sibutramine and orlistat. Pharmacological treatment of obesity should be considered in obese patients (BMI > 30) or overweight (BMI > 27) in presence of comorbidities as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipemias (7.8); this must not be used as an isolated treatment but together with other basic therapies: diet, physical exercise and psychological support.

[Nutritional support in chylothorax secondary to lymphoma]. / Soporte nutricional en el quilotórax secundario a linfoma.

Chylothorax is a well-known, albeit infrequent, complication in certain neoplasias including lymphomas. The continuing loss of chyle leads to a profound deterioration in patients' nutritional and immunological status, prevented only by appropriate early nutritional support. There is currently some dispute over its handling, particularly with regard to the most appropriate type of nutritional support and the suitability of conservative treatment versus surgery. The present paper describes the case of a 41-year-old patient diagnosed as having secondary chylothorax following B-cell lymphoma where mixed nutritional support (fat-free enteral nutrition by mouth and total parenteral nutrition) was given, followed by talc pleurodesis, with optimal results. There is a review of the literature and a discussion of the most controversial aspects of its management.

[Patients at risk for malnutrition in primary care. Social and health study]. / Pacientes en riesgo de desnutrición en asistencia primaria. Estudio sociosanitario.

GOALS: The worsening nutritional condition of certain population segments is an ever more frequent situation. Malnutrition also has considerable consequences, both in healthy individuals and in patients, leading to an increase in morbidity/mortality among the general population. The purpose of the present study is to learn the opinion of doctors in primary health care about the frequency of patients at risk of malnutrition attending their clinics; the most common forms of diagnostic technique used, the groups of population and situations that show the greatest risk of malnutrition as well as the therapeutic actions undertaken. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study effected 1819 opinion polls of primary health care doctors, distributed in proportion to the provincial distribution of doctors throughout Spain. With a margin of error of +/- 2.3% and a confidence interval of 95.5% (K-2). RESULTS: Of the patients seen in primary health care centres, 11% are at risk of malnutrition and approximately 61% of the total are detected at the medical clinic. The situations with the greatest risk are advanced age (71%), marginalized population (drug abusers, alcoholics) (56%), anorexia (50%), patients with mental disorders (42%), oncological pathologies (41%) and prolonged confinement in bed (39%). The therapeutic attitudes considered most appropriate by primary health care practitioners are a greater attention to diets and the use of nutritional supports in cases of established malnutrition. CONCLUSIONS: The present study reflects a high incidence of malnutrition risk among patients attending primary health care clinics (11%); and highlights the importance, from the point of view of preventive medicine, of improving nutritional education among professionals, as well as the availability of simple therapeutic actions and support measures that might help to avoid larger-scale problems with a large social and financial cost.

[Treatment with low-protein diet and caloric supplements in patients with chronic kidney failure in predialysis. Comparative study]. / Tratamiento con dieta hipoproteica y suplementos calóricos en pacientes con insuficiencia renal crónica en prediálisis. Estudio comparativo.

The low-protein diet (LPD) is used in patients with advanced chronic renal failure (CRF) to improve their symptoms and decrease the progression of CRF. LPD entails the risk for caloric malnutrition, which increases protein catabolism. Two groups were obtained from a total of 33 patients with CRF with LPD (0.6 g protein/kg/day): control group (group C), which went on with the same diet, and a group S, in which a portion of proteins and calories were provided through a low-protein and hypercaloric supplement (Suplena). During 6 months the protein intake and the evolution of the nutritional status and renal function were studied and compared between both groups. Additionally, tolerance and secondary effects of the supplement were studied in group S. Twenty-two patients (eleven in each group) completed the six month follow-up. At the end of the study, group S had the nutritional parameters better preserved, came closer to the low-protein diet objective, had a better compliance with therapy and had a less marked decrease in renal function--as measured by creatinine clearance--than group C. Tolerance to supplement was good in more than 70% of patients and secondary effects--nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite--occurred in 18% of patients at the end of the 6 months. We conclude that the use of this supplement in an LPD is usually well tolerated, enhances the compliance with the diet and can be of benefit for the mebacolic-nutritional status.