Use of an elemental diet for long-term nutritional support in Crohn's disease.

An elemental diet was used for long-term (up to 360 days) nutritional support in eight patients with Crohn's diesease. They had lost 30% (range 18-37%) of their weight in health. A whole-body monitor was used to measure total body potassium as an index of the lean tissue mass. Three preoperative patients who has been unable to maintain their weight on a normal diet were able to restore 10% per month of their lost lean tissue once they were established on an elemental diet. In five patients who had had a successful resection of their bowel lesion the postoperative rate of restoration of the lean tissue mass while taking an elemental diet was 18.5% per month, while in two control postoperative patients on a normal diet it was 19% per month.