title: Practical principles of home artificial nutrition.
abstract: Due to its multiple advantages, patient care at home is an expanding therapeutic modality. This therapeutic option benefits patients and their families by reducing the probability of complications related to length of hospital stay, such as nosocomial infections, as well as by offering the possibility of allowing patients to remain in the home environment, which is more comfortable. Furthermore, this treatment improves resource utilization by increasing hospital bed turnover. One of the modalities that is receiving increasing interest is home artificial nutrition. This treatment consists of administering nutrients and another therapeutic agents into a tube feeding (home enteral nutrition [HEN]) or through venous access (home parenteral nutrition [HPN]) to improve or to maintain the patient's nutritional status in the home environment. The present article aims to review some of the most interesting features of HAN related to the prevalence, legal framework, special situations in Spain and particular features of HEN and HPN (patient selection, diets, monitoring, complications). Lastly, this article analyzes the importance of education programs for patients and their families and of integration between the primary care and the specialist care teams for the success of this therapeutic modality, the aim of which is to improve quality of care. Home artificial nutrition is a necessary but underused modality in Spain compared with other, similar countries. However, the continual search for efficiency and quality in patient care will help to improve the provision of this therapeutic option in the near future.
authors.affiliation: Sección de Endocrinología y Nutrición. Hospital Universitario Príncipe de Asturias. Alcalá de Henares. Madrid. España. Electronic address: julia.alvarez@telefonica.net.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alvarez Hernández