Clinical nutrition in liver and pancreatic diseases.

Abstract

According to international and national surveys, 5-15% of patients admitted to hospitals require partial or total artificial nutrition. The development or progression of malnutrition influences patients' lives significantly and also increases the costs of their treatment substantially and unnecessarily. Nutrition therapy, meaning a balanced intake of food or provision of nutrients, is an essential part of the critically ill patient's care. The proper concern of physicians today is not whether nutritional support is indicated in hepatic and pancreatic diseases, but when and how it should be given. Author, therefore, gives guidelines to the nutritional therapy of patients suffering from liver and pancreatic diseases since their metabolic support still remains the most challenging problems in clinical nutrition.