Abstract
Patients who, during admission, begin to use enteral nutrition (EN) and do not recover adequate oral intake need proper planning prior to discharge. The present study is a descriptive analysis of patients discharged with EN from our hospital in 2018. In all, the study included 141 patients (50.3% male) with an average age of 76.18 ± 14 years with the most frequent reasons for enteral support being neurological disease (71.3%) and ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and maxillofacial surgery (17.02%) (others accounted for 11.68%). In these two groups, differences were observed in both the average age (77 vs. 70.5 years) and sex of patients—mostly women (58%) in the first group and men (70%) in the second. Overall, the access routes used were nasogastric tube (76.4%), and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (18.4%); 67.1% of the episodes ended by 30 June, 60.6% of patients died (47% of neurological patients), and 39.3% patients recovered function of the oral passage (85% of surgical/head and neck tumor). The duration of support was as follows: 1–3 months, 32%; 6–12 months, 26.9%; more than 12 months, 18.5%. This indicated some frequent and clearly differentiated profiles in the patients studied, which may contribute to better care and support in order to maintain long-term treatment.
Highlights
Disease-related malnutrition is an important aspect to consider in the integral care of hospitalized patients, due to its prevalence and consequences [1]
A total of 141 inpatients admitted to the hospital without prior artificial nutritional support and discharged home with enteral nutrition were included in the study
Among the diagnoses causing the implementation of home enteral nutrition, the most common was neurological disease with aphagia or severe dysphagia (71.6% of the patients), followed by ear, nose, and throat (ENT) and maxillofacial surgery (17.1%), head and neck tumors (7%), digestive tumors
Summary
Disease-related malnutrition is an important aspect to consider in the integral care of hospitalized patients, due to its prevalence and consequences [1]. Enteral nutrition is the administration of chemically defined formulas by tube to the functioning digestive tract when oral feeding is not possible or sufficient Continuing this support after discharge allows patients to go home once a hospital stay is not necessary for other reasons, thereby reducing the length of stay and associated health costs [3]. In Spain, the cost of home enteral nutrition is fully covered by the Spanish National Health System in accordance with the defining criteria of the products eligible for public financing and the pathologies contemplated. This is regulated by Royal Decree 1030/2006, which makes it valid throughout the whole national territory [4]. Patients who are able to feed orally before admission
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