Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition in the Care of the Cancer Patient
- William D. DeWys, MD;
- Thomas T. Kubota, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
WEIGHT loss in cancer patients is caused by decreased caloric intake, increased caloric consumption, and altered host metabolism. In patients with small or modest caloric deficits, caloric balance may often be restored by dietary counseling and oral nutritional supplements. For patients with moderate to severe caloric deficits or physical problems interfering with oral intake, enteral or parenteral routes of nutritional supplementation should be considered. In a previous article in this series, general principles of nutritional care of the cancer patient were reviewed.1 This article is concerned with technical aspects of the enteral and parenteral routes of nutrition for cancer patients and with possible indications for their use.
Enteral Nutrition Enteral feeding may be accomplished via tubes inserted through various routes: nasogastric, pharyngostomy, esophagostomy, gastrostomy, or jejunostomy. The nasogastric route is used most often. For most patients, we recommend the use of an 8 F silicone tubing (the small-bore pediatric
Footnotes
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Reprint requests to Nutrition Section, Clinical Investigations Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20205 (Dr DeWys).
