Benefits of early specialized nutritional support in malnourished patients

Abstract

Introduction and objective: Disease related malnutrition (DRM) is highly prevalent in Spain, affecting 23% of in-hospital patients, and is associated with clinical complications. Specialized nutritional support (SNS) can reduce these complications.

Material and methods: Prospective study carried out in standard clinical practice conditions to test if SNS during the first 5 days of hospitalization, or subsequently, was associated to a lower length of stay or reduced complications in patients with a NRS-2002 score≥3 points.

Results: In the group of patients who initiated early SNS, the length of stay was 8.83 days shorter than in the group with a later introduction (95% CI 3.55-14.10); nevertheless, the higher prevalence of male and oncological patients in this group could have impacted the results. A tendency towards a statistically significant lower mortality rate and a reduced amount of total complications was described.

Conclusion: The early introduction of SNS (within the first 5 days of hospitalization) in patients with DRM was associated with a 32.4% reduction in the length of stay.

Keywords: Complicaciones; Complications; Desnutrición; Estancia media; Length of stay; Malnutrition; Soporte nutricional especializado; Specialized nutritional support.