Mineral loss in the parenteral nutrition patient.

The impact of parenteral nutrition on mineral loss was examined in 11 long-term (10-79 mo) and 6 short-term (1-8 mo) patients. In the long-term patients, there was a significant (p less than or equal to 0.02) urinary loss of calcium and magnesium during infusion compared with periods off infusion. The magnitude of urinary excretion of these minerals was much lower than in previously reported series and in short-term patients. Despite this, in long-term patients the mean bone mass at the spine was lower than normal (p less than 0.001) but mean bone mass at the wrist was not. Current data suggest that hypercalciuria is not a consistent feature of parenteral nutrition. Furthermore, osteopenia is a feature of some long-term parenteral nutrition patients.