Introduction:

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) is a kind of nutritional support indicated for patients whose clinical situation makes it impossible to cover their nutritional requirements enterally. Despite the fact that TPN is a safe and effective therapy, some complications have been described. One of the most frequent is hypertriglyceridemia. The etiology of this metabolic complication is complex and multifactorial.

Objetive:

The aim of this work was to determine risk factors associated with the development of hypertrilgyceridemia in adult inhospital non critical patients who carry TPN for a short term. A secondary aim was to evaluate the effect that a lipid emulsion fortified with omega-3 poliunsaturated fatty acids causes on this metabolic complication.

Material and methods:

This is an observational retrospective cohort study, in which adult inhospital non critical patients have been included. Only those who needed TPN during more than seven days were included. Hypertriglyceridemia was defined as plasma triglycerides levels higher than 200 mg/dl. The lipid emulsions were composed whether by a combination of 50% long-chain (LCT) and medium-chain (MCT) triglycerides or 40% LCT/50% MCT/10% omega-3. Clinical, nutritonal and biochemical parameters were included. Analitical samples were obtained before starting TPN, and weekly until withdrawal. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictive factors of the appearance of hypertriglyceridemia.

Results:

One hundred and one patients were included (61.4% male). Thirty-three per cent of them developed hypertriglyceridemia. In the multivariate analysis the independent risk factors associated with the presence of hypertriglyceridemia were the initial plasmatic triglycerides levels, the body mass index (BMI) and an input of glucose in the TPN higher than 3.1 g/kg/day. The infusion of a lipid emulsion fortified with 3-omega fatty acids was associated with a nonsignificant reduction of the risk of appearance of hypertriglyceridemia.

Conclusion:

The patient's clinical metabolic situation, as well as the load of carbohydrates in the TPN are essential for the development of the TPN-associated hypertriglyceridemia. The administration of a lipid emulsion fortified with omega-3 fatty acids is safe, even though it was not associated with a significant protective effect over the risk of appearance of this metabolic complication.

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