Re-feeding syndrome in head and neck--prevention and management.

"Re-feeding syndrome" is a potentially fatal, but entirely avoidable condition. It was first reported in severely malnourished prisoners in World War II. Recently interest in the topic has seen a resurgence with the increased use of artificial nutrition and improved monitoring. In 2007, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has produced guidelines for the prevention and management of re-feeding syndrome. These have some important differences to the previous guidelines of the Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Group of the British Dietetic Association (PENG). The aim of this article is to review the literature on re-feeding syndrome, and present the most recent guidelines for its diagnosis, prevention and treatment.