Nutritional pharmacology in surgical patients.

The use of pharmaconutrition for supportive care of surgical patients is now well established, but the field is still in its infancy. Complex pharmaconutrient formulas containing arginine, glutamine, and n-3 fatty acids have been proven to shorten hospital stay, decrease the incidence of infection, and reduce hospital costs in selected groups of patients. The effects are greatest in those patients with severe trauma including burn injury, those undergoing major surgical procedures, especially when malnourished, and those who are critically ill ICU patients including patients with existing infection. The complex interaction of pharmaconutrients and other pharmacologic agents are just now beginning to be investigated.