Question

Catherine is a 35 year old mother of three young children. She was admitted to the hospital with multiple enterocutaneous fistulas 3 weeks ago, at which time she weighed 52 kg (116lbs). She is 165 cm (5ft 5in) tall. Catherine has a history of recurrent cervical cancer for which she had a hysterectomy 4 months before admission. During chemotherapy that followed, she had regular bouts with nausea and anorexia. Surgery was performed again. Her fistulas continued to drain for 2 weeks postoperatively, during which she tolerated clear liquids only. An intravenous drip of 10% glucose and 45% normal saline was ordered to supplement fluids and kcal. This week she developed peritonitis and has had a fever with a maximum temperature of 39 C (102 F) over the past 24 hours. Her weight has dropped to 41 kg (90lbs); drainage from the fistulas has become odorous. The patient was placed in isolation today and was advised by her physician that he intended to start her on total parenteral nutrition (TPN) and conduct some more tests to determine her progress.

Questions for Analysis:

What types of nutrition assessment procedures would be used by the TPN team for planning Catherine's nutrition therapy? Explain the purpose of each.

Answer 1

The type of nutrition assessment procedure that would be used by the TPN team for planning Catherine's nutrition therapy; personal nutritional assessment as based on evidence-based practice it will create a personalized nutritional requirement after the initial assessment for the baseline data after this optimal nutritional assessment.