Assistance for the Prescription of Nutritional Support Must Be Required in Nonexperienced Nutritional Teams

The aim of the study was to determine the current practices of nutritional support among hospitalized patients in nonspecialized hospital departments. Materials and Methods. During an observation period of 2 months, a surgeon and a gastroenterologist designated in each of the two departments concerned, not “specialized” in nutritional assistance, have treated patients in which nutritional support seemed necessary. Assessing the degree of malnutrition of the patient, the therapeutic decision and the type of product prescribed by the doctors were secondarily compared to the proposals of a structured computer program according to the criteria and standards established by the institutions currently recognized. Results. The study included 120 patients bearing a surgical disease in 86.7% of cases and 10% of medical cases. 50% of the patients had cancer. Nutritional status was correctly evaluated in 38.3% by the initial doctors’ diagnosis—consistent with the software’s evaluation. The strategy of nutrition was concordant with the proposals of the software in 79.2% of cases. Conclusions. Despite an erroneous assessment of the nutritional status in more than two-thirds of cases the strategy of nutritional management was correct in 80% of cases. Malnutrition and its consequences can be prevented in nonexperienced nutritional teams by adequate nutritional support strategies coming from modern techniques including computerized programs. 1. Introduction About 40% of the patients admitted to hospital show different degrees of malnutrition [1]. If this deficiency is not identified and correctly treated in time, it can eventually become more severe and induce a significant increase in the morbidity/mortality rate with a subsequent increase in the length of the hospital stay [2, 3]. Currently, few studies allow us to evaluate the effects upon these parameters, of appropriate nutritional support during hospital stay [4, 5]. This is partly due to the fact that in nonspecialized departments, without an experienced nutritional team, the nutritional prescriptions usually remain poorly adapted. The aim of the study was to determine the current practices of nutritional support among hospitalized patients in nonspecialized hospital departments. 2. Material and Methods 2.1. Hospital Departments Two departments were selected at the CHU of Marseille: gastroenterology and visceral surgery. During a 2-month observation period, a gastroenterologist and a visceral surgeon were, respectively, assigned to each department, both nonspecialists in the field of nutrition, and they