Postoperative parenteral nutrition.

Parenteral feeding is not an adequate substitute for oral feeding. Water and electrolytes can readily be supplied parenterally, but not all necessary nutrients. To provide the 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day needed for adequate energy and to avoid oxidation of protein, concentrations of dextrose as great as 25 per cent with an additional 5 per cent of ethyl alcohol have been used parenterally with success. Fat emulsions have been given intravenously with some success, but undesirable reactions in as many as 16 per cent of patients have been reported. Protein may be given as amino acids in solution with 10 to 15 per cent dextrose. Water-soluble vitamins may be lost through diuresis if administered intravenously; of these vitamin C is necessary to healing of wounds and appears to have special value in reactions to stress. If fat nutrition is impaired, deficiency in fat-soluble vitamins is to be expected; of these, vitamin K is important to production of prothrombin and therefore especially necessary to recovery from operation or injury.