Home enteral nutrition in children: an 11-year experience with 416 patients.
OBJECTIVE
We report our experience of paediatric home enteral nutrition, as there is little detailed evidence published.


METHODS
All patients younger than 18 years commencing treatment between January 1990 and December 2000 were included in this retrospective study.


RESULTS
The study covered 416 children and adolescents, corresponding to a total of 243,844 days of home enteral nutrition (HEN). The mean (+/-SD) age of patients commencing treatment was 5.4+/-5.3 years (range 0.1-17.8). Indications were digestive disorders in 35% of patients, neurological and muscular disorders in 35%, malignancy in 11%, failure to thrive in 8%, and miscellaneous ailments in 9%. Enteral feeding comprised commercially available paediatric industrial diets in 36%, adult-type diet in 35% and infant formulas in 29%. Children received enteral feeding by nasogastric tube (53%), or gastrostomy (41%). A mechanical pump was used in 98% of the patients. The mean duration of treatment was 595+/-719 days.


CONCLUSIONS
HEN can be used while treating a large group of chronic diseases of children. It can be started very early in life and is often prolonged over several years.
Daveluy
Walter
W
Unité de Gastroentérologie, Hépatologie et Nutrition, Clinique de Pédiatrie, Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire de Lille, France. walterd@netcourrier.com
Guimber
Dominique
D
Mention
Karine
K
Lescut
Dominique
D
Michaud
Laurent
L
Turck
Dominique
D
Gottrand
Frédéric
F
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005774:Gastrostomy / Q000379:methods; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007441:Intubation, Gastrointestinal / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome