Non-interventional, retrospective data of long-term home parenteral nutrition in patients with benign diseases: Analysis of a nurse register (SERECARE)

Non-interventional, 5-year retrospective data of home parenteral nutrition in patients with benign chronic intestinal failure: Analysis of an Italian nurse registry (SERECARE II)

OBJECTIVE

This study is an assessment of home parenteral nutrition service performance and safety and efficacy outcomes in patients with benign chronic intestinal failure.

METHODS

This is a retrospective, non-interventional, and multicenter study. Data were collected by trained nurses and recorded in a dedicated registry (SERECARE).

RESULTS

From January 1, 2013 to June 30, 2018, data from a total of 683 patients with benign chronic intestinal failure were entered in the registry. Patients included 208 pediatric (53.8% male; median age = 4.0 y) and 475 adult (47.6% male; median age = 59.0 y) participants. On average, patients were visited 5.4 ± 4.5 times and received 1.4 ± 0.8 training sessions. Retraining was not common and mostly due to change of therapy or change of caregiver. Of 939 complications, 40.9% were related to the central venous catheter and were mostly infectious (n = 182) and mechanical (n = 187). The rate of infectious and mechanical complications per 1000 catheter days decreased over 5 y (0.30-0.15 and 0.33 -0.19, respectively). The rate of complications per 1000 catheter days and the mean complications per patient were higher in pediatric than in adult patients. The hospitalization rate was 1.01 per patient throughout the study period. These data were similar to those registered in a previous study period (2002-2011) (n = 1.53 per patient). Changes over time in the efficacy variables were mostly small and non-significant.

CONCLUSIONS

This study confirms the importance of setting up and maintaining structured registries to monitor and improve home parenteral nutrition care. Safety outcomes have improved over the years, most likely due to the underlying efficient nursing service.

Intestinal iatrogenic hyperadaptation in patients with short bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease: Is this an indication for mandatory lifelong injections of teduglutide?

Short bowel syndrome with chronic intestinal failure (SBS-CIF) is a rare disease leading to a markedly decreased absorption of fluids and nutrients. Intestinal adaptation in patients with SBS-CIF who are treated with home parenteral nutrition is a natural repair process activated by increased secretions of glucagon-like peptide-2, inducing intestinal trophism, nutrient transport, and lowering gastrointestinal motility. Teduglutide (TED), a glucagon-like peptide-2 analog, offers a new, effective therapeutic alternative to boost intestinal adaptation. There is still no consensus regarding the question of whether intestinal adaptation is permanent or a transient, drug-dependent process requiring lifelong injections of TED. Here we report the clinical cases of two female patients with SBS-CIF secondary to Crohn's disease, who had received TED for 36 and 41 mo. In both patients, TED was discontinued for 5 d but needed to be resumed after an additional 5 d. In patient 1, the discontinuation of TED was accidental (the patient inadvertently injected frozen TED vials); whereas in patient 2, the suspension was at the patient's request. A rapid, significant (P < 0.0001) decline of intestinal function (diarrheal evacuations, fecal volume, food intake) was documented after the suspension of active TED in patient 1. After the resumption of active TED, the symptoms rapidly and significantly (P < 0.0001) improved. The same trend was observed in patient 2. Infective causes of diarrhea were ruled out in both patients. In conclusion, our experience shows that even after long-term treatment, the iatrogenic hyperadaptation process obtained with TED results is a temporary, drug-dependent process and vanishes with the suspension of therapy. These clinical cases suggest that in patients with SBS-CIF receiving TED, this treatment must be administered lifelong.

Home parenteral nutrition in older vs younger patients: Clinical characteristics and outcomes

BACKGROUND

There is a demographic shift toward older patients receiving home parenteral nutrition (HPN), but data on clinical outcomes are limited. The objective of this study was to determine differences between older and younger HPN patients in regard to HPN indications, prescriptions, and outcomes over the first 2 years receiving HPN.

METHODS

This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from HPN adult patients entered in the Canadian HPN Registry. New HPN patients enrolled between 2003 and 2017 and receiving HPN for at least 2 years were selected. Data included demographics, PN prescriptions, catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) over the past year, survival, and quality of life based on Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS).

RESULTS

Four hundred two patients were included: 184 patients were ≥60 years old, and 219 patients were between 18 and 59 years old. There were no differences in the main indications for HPN, body mass index (BMI), and PN prescriptions at baseline. At 2 years, younger patients received more energy from PN than older patients (27.9 vs 19.6 kcal/kg; P < .001), but BMI remained comparable. There were fewer CRBSIs in the older group (20% vs 36%, P = .0023), but 78% of younger patients remained alive vs 69% in the older group (P = .0401). In those alive, the proportion of patients continuing to receive HPN was comparable and the proportion of patients with a KPS ≥60.

CONCLUSIONS

Older HPN patients have similar clinical characteristics as younger patients but have fewer CRBSIs and higher 2-year mortality.