The role of Intralipid in prolonged parenteral nutrition. I. As a caloric substitute for glucose.

Three stable patients were studied in order to assess the role of intravenous fat solutions (Intralipid) in long-term home parental nutrition. The standard source of nonprotein calories (NPC) in these patients was 60% glucose. Replacing 40% of NPC by Intralipid was effective in maintaining nitrogen balance and allowed total infusion time to be reduced from 12 hr to 8 hr. The serum triglyceride level was significantly elevated when glucose was used as the sole source of NPC, whereas serum cholesterol was significantly elevated when 40% of NPC were supplied by Intralipid.