Understanding Surgical Nutrition & Malnutrition

surgical nutrition

Surgical patients require proper Surgical Nutrition but often it is reported that for most of the patients, they die of malnutrition. In fact, cases of malnutrition in surgical patients are reported 50% and this is pretty alarming.  Malnutrition is often common in the surgical patients.

A study shows the following consequences:

  1. Because of the lessening of food intake, patients tend to lose a lot of fat, muscle, skin and finally the bone as well as viscera thereby, expanding the extracellular fluid section.
  2. The Nutritional needs go down along with the drop in the patients’ body mass which reflects a proper usage of the food which is ingested and also reflects a vast fall in the capacity to work in terms of the cellular level.
  3. The drop in the reduced body mass with the drop in the reduced capacity to work, in term; obstructs the normal balanced responses to the stressor such as the stress-related surgery or the critical illness.
  4. Again, the stress created resulting from the surgery constitutes a sort of trauma on the surgical patient(s) which often creates an increase in protein and the utilization of energy. Moreover, this can cause macronutrients which include fats, glycogen and proteins present in the labile, to be robustly redistributed to more metabolically dynamic tissues such as the patient’s liver as well as organs of the viscera.

The above reaction can direct to the beginning of what is referred to as ‘protein calorie malnutrition’ (which may be definite as the pessimistic balance of 100 grams of nitrogen and 10,000 kcal) within a span of very few days. The rate of development of the malnutrition in the aftermath of the operation in an individual patient is dependent upon the previously existent nutritional category, the nature as well as complexity of the surgical modus operandi, and upon the amount of hypermetabolism.

Different Types of Surgical Nutrition

However, nutrition can change things! There are basic 2 different types of nutrition for surgical patients that have been studied lately, namely; Standard Oral Nutrition Supplements (ONS) and Immunonutrition Nutrients Supplements (INS). ONS most is usually the liquid nutrition which is capable of providing extra amount of protein to the patients and adds more calories to supplement their diet. ONS is present in many different flavors and comprise of famed products like Boost, Ensure , etc. Being cheaper than the IN, they are more complied with the patients.

IN supplements including Impact Advanced Recovery and Nutren Optimum, differ in their content- both, ingredients and the concentrations as well as the ideal amount of dosages for the ideal outcome. They even differ from manufacturer to manufacturer and country to country, and ingredients which make them usually responsible for the purpose of benefiting surgical outcome, however; the benefits are not easily recognized.

Concluding, to gain a proper understanding of the Surgical Nutrition to avoid malnutrition, seek professional help such as from the surgeons in Southlake General Surgery.

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