High caloric glucose-nitrogen infusions. Postoperative management of neonatal infants.

Abstract

Prolonged infusions of concentrated glucose-nitrogen solutions through central venous catheters have been shown by Dudrick and Wilmore to promote and maintain positive nitrogen balance. 1-4 These solutions may offer an important adjuvant to the postoperative management of surgical patients. The nutritional requirement of small infants is so critical that the use of this technique during even relatively short periods of gastrointestinal insufficiency may be justified. In many cases, it is difficult to predict at the onset how long such parenteral therapy will be required. This mode of therapy is potentially hazardous, if not carefully monitored, in neonatal infants because of the hypertonic nature of the solutions. 5,6 This paper reports the use of this technique in seven neonatal infants receiving relatively short-term high caloric parenteral therapy. Clinical Series Seven neonatal infants weighing between 1,100 and 2,770 gm (2.42 and 5.95 lb), average weight of 2,260 gm (4.98 lb), received high