Nutritional support is used frequently in the management of postoperative surgical patients. Malnourished patients do poorly in surgery.<sup>11 Howard L. Enteral and parenteral nutrition therapy Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine New York: McGraw-Hill (1998).  472-480

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> It would seem intuitive that nutritional support should lead to measurable improvement in outcome, but studies attempting to prove this hypothesis have yielded conflicting results.<sup>8 Heyland D.K. Nutritional support in the critically ill patient Crit Care Clin 1998 ;  14 : 423-440  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti, 9 Heyland D.K., MacDonald S., Keefe L. , e al. Total parenteral nutrition in the critically ill patient JAMA 1998 ;  280 : 2013-2019  [cross-ref]

Cliccare qui per andare alla sezione Riferimenti</sup> Nevertheless, hyperalimentation is given to many critically ill surgical patients. This article describes a practical approach for the consultant asked to manage nutritional support of the surgical patient.