title: Clinical evaluation of two-liter prepacked enteral diet delivery system: a controlled trial.
abstract: Following a recent study in our Unit which showed that significantly more of prescribed enteral diet was administered from 2-liter bags than 0.51 bottles, a controlled clinical trial was undertaken to investigate further the effectiveness of the 2-liter prepackaged enteral delivery system. Forty patients with normal gastrointestinal function requiring enteral nutrition were randomized to receive nasogastrically 2-liter/day of polymeric diet (2000 kcal, 12 g N) either from a presterilized 2-liter PVC bag (Express EFI Ltd, UK) or from two 1-liter rigid plastic containers filled with cans of Clinifeed 400 (Roussel Laboratories Ltd, UK). The actual volumes of feed infused were monitored in patients fed for 5 days or more. Both nursing and dietetic staff preferred the 2-liter bags which were more convenient to prepare and use. Significantly larger quantities of prescribed diet were delivered from the 2-liter bags than from the 1-liter containers (p less than 0.001). It was concluded that the 2-liter bag system was potentially more convenient and nutritionally efficacious than 1-liter containers. Although the incidence of microbial contamination associated with the 2-liter bags was low, measures to maintain the sterility of this system may need to be more stringent.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005526:Food, Formulated / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D011897:Random Allocation; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012709:Serum Albumin