Nutrition support in the United States, what is the current practice?

Patricia S. Anthony

Clinical nutrition in the United States encompasses a vast continuum of nutrition: from the process of identification of malnutition to the management and prevention of obesity. This presentation with focus on the current pratice of nutrition support in the United States. Nutrition support is the provision of specially formulated and/or delivered parenteral or enteral nutrients to maintain or restore optimal nutrition status. Nutrition support is best managed by a multidisciplinary team of health professionals (physician, dietitian, pharmacist, nurse), with specialized training in nutrition support. This multidisciplinary nutrition Support team evaluates patients for nutrition risk, ultimately determining the appropriate mode of nutrition intervention (oral, enteral or parenteral). Over the last few years there has been research supporting the use of enteral nutrition vs parenteral nutritio. During this same time frame, the science of enteral nutrition has become more advanced with focus on the pharmacologic effects of various nutrients, and the advancement of technology to deliver enteral nutrition. Controversy continues regarding the better feeding modality, taking into account clinical efficacy, complications and cost issues. This controversy will continue until there are prospective, randomized clinical trials which demonstrate clinical outcomes and/or financial importance of one modality over the other.