Nutritional support involves giving people an enriched liquid mixture of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins in liquid form via an enteral feeding tube or parenteral line into the stomach or bowel, or directly into their bloodstream through a parenteral tube.
Family physicians may prescribe nutritional support to treat their patients with protein-energy undernutrition; however, no reliable evidence supports its efficacy among general medical inpatients.
Feeding tubes
Feeding tubes provide liquid food and medication that people cannot ingest by mouth. They supply carbohydrates, proteins and fats essential for health and strength in addition to fluids to combat dehydration.
Healthcare professionals may insert a feeding tube while you’re hospitalized and provide instruction on its care before you return home. Once there, liquid feed can be administered through either your nose or mouth through special tubing (nasogastric or nasojejunal).
If you use a nasal tube, be sure to wipe the area surrounding it with a clean washcloth at least three times each day with an unscented soap, to flush your tube regularly and avoid clogs. Also keep the site — known as the stoma — clean and dry; initially you may need to cover it with a dressing but later it should be left uncovered. People using G tubes should use unscented soap without scrubbiness for best results.
Oral nutrition
Many individuals suffering from malnutrition in hospitals and communities can be effectively treated by using oral nutritional supplements (ONS). ONS provide protein, calories, minerals, vitamins and other important nutrients which provide nutrition support when it is not possible or safe to eat enough food directly.
ONS is available as ready-to-drink liquids that can be thinned to drinkable consistency, or thickened using just water, and may also contain extra fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, prebiotics and probiotics for additional nutritional support. They can serve both as meal replacements or snacks.
All people receiving nutrition support in hospital should be monitored by healthcare professionals with appropriate skills and training in nutritional monitoring. This should occur at regular intervals depending on the care setting and duration of use of ONS; reviews should include assessment of indications, routes and risks for each person as well as whether their ONS meets their goals of treatment.
Enteral nutrition
Enteral nutrition provides essential nutrition to individuals unable to consume food by mouth due to medical reasons. Enteral nutrition involves infusing liquid nutrition formula through either a tube placed in their nose or mouth (nasojejunal tube, PEG tube) or surgically implanted into their stomach or small intestine, in order to avoid choking hazards during feedings. These feedings may be administered while standing, or via drugs that speed stomach emptying speeds.
An individual on enteral feeds may require a temporary parenteral nutrition (PN) supplement through a port or peripherally inserted central catheter line (PICC), similar to what would be found in hospital settings, to supplement oral intake until oral intake can resume. Unfortunately, PN can lead to more long-term complications than enteral nutrition, so frequent monitoring from nursing staff should occur – looking out for signs of dehydration, volume overload or nausea/vomiting and catheter site infections are essential indicators that it might be time for them.
Nutritional products
Nutraceuticals are a combination of nutrition and pharmaceuticals, offering numerous health benefits such as improved health promotion and disease prevention. However, they may interact with medications and cause side effects.
Nutritional products provide nutritional support for patients who lack an appetite or are unable to consume sufficient food each day, such as dietary supplements and herbal remedies. These can either be consumed orally or intravenously.
These functional foods are known as functional foods, nutrient supplements or nutraceuticals and can be used for a range of conditions from gastrointestinal issues to heart diseases. They may even help improve athletic performance! They contain essential minerals, vitamins and herbs as well as phytochemicals; available from pharmacies or natural health stores with recommendations from naturopaths, Chinese medicine doctors or homeopathic physicians as well as being popular among people living with AIDS who face treatment adherence challenges.
