Essential fatty acid deficiency while a patient receiving fat regimen total parenteral nutrition.

A 32-year-old man was diagnosed with lymphoma and underwent Billroth's II operation because of upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Although the patient received fat regimen total parenteral nutrition (TPN), the patient developed typical skin rash of essential fatty acid deficiency after 2 weeks of starting TPN. The diagnosis was confirmed by biochemical and histological analyses. After increasing the lipid infusion, the rash was gradually improved with complete resolution after 19 days.