6: Malnutrition Flashcards
What is malnutrition?
Excess, deficiency or imbalance of nutrition causing measurable adverse effects on health
A large proportion of patients admitted to hospital are at risk of ___.
malnutrition
Patients with atrophied muscle due to malnutrition are more likely to develop which complication of a hospital stay?
Pressure ulcers
What can infection lead to in patients with malnutrition?
Sepsis
Malnutrition is ___ in the short term but ___ in the long term.
adaptive
harmful
What is anorexia?
Loss of appetite
not to be confused with anorexia nervosa which is the eating disorder
Why can intestinal diseases like Crohn’s and Coeliac disease cause malnutrition?
Impaired digestion & absorption of nutrients
Why may cells have increased nutritional requirements which, unmet, causes malnutrition?
Cancer (increased metabolic demand)
Elderly people at risk of malnutrition tend to have low __ levels.
Vitamin
Which plasma protein tends to be low in patients who are malnourished?
Albumin
Eating food / snacks / sip feeds
Delivery of nutrition through a tube directly into the gut
Delivery of nutrition intravenously
Name each type of nutrition.
Oral nutrition
Enteral nutrition
Parenteral nutrition
Under which BMI should patients receive nutritional support?
< 18.5
(or < 20.0 AND weight loss of 5% in past 6 months)
A patient should be considered for nutritional support if they’ve lost __% of their body weight within 6 months.
10%
If a patient is unlikely to eat for _ days or longer, they should be considered for nutritional support.
5
What are some examples of oral nutritional supplements?
Sip feeds
Powders
Puddings
Which type of nutrition involves delivery via a tube into the stomach, duodenum or jejunum?
Enteral nutrition
Name three kinds of enteral feeding tube.
Nasogastric (NG)
Nasoduodenal (ND)
Nasojejunal (NJ)
What are the indications for enteral feeding?
Patient is unable to take food/drink orally
BUT their GI tract works
What are some contraindications for enteral feeding?
GI obstruction
Severe diarrhoea or vomiting
Proximal fistula
Intestinal ischaemia
What is parenteral nutrtion?
Delivery of nutrition through a vein
Parenteral nutrition involves feeding through (central / peripheral) veins.
haha got you
both
What are the indications for parenteral nutrition?
Unable to take in food orally and/or enterally
Non-functioning GI tract
The ___ ___ of patients varies depending on their age and the illness they have.
energy requirement
What syndrome can be caused by excessive feeding following malnutrition?
Why does it occur?
Refeeding syndrome
Imbalances in fluids and electrolytes which causes cell/organ damage
By which feeding methods is refeeding syndrome likely to occur?
Parenteral/enteral nutrition
tends not to occur orally due to appetite
Why do cells fail when a malnourished person is fed too quickly?
Electrolyte imbalance
In malnutrition, which elements of the diet aren’t absorbed properly?
Protein
Carbohydrate
Fats
Vitamins
Minerals
Which metal ion is low in patients with malnutrition?
Zinc
Refeeding syndrome is associated with (low / high) levels of electrolytes.
low
e.g hypokalaemia, hypophosphataemia, hypomagnesaemia
