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Stroke is a public health problem of the first order. In developed countries is one of the leading causes of death, along with cardiovascular disease and cancer. In addition, stroke is the leading cause of permanent disability in adulthood. Many of the patients who survive do so with significant sequelae that limit them in their activities of daily living. Most strokes (80-85%) are due to ischemia, while the rest are hemorrhagic. We have identified many modifiable risk factors, some with an important relationship with dietary factors or comorbidities in wich the diet has a significant impact. The incidence of malnutrition in stroke patients is not well known, but most likely impacts on patient prognosis. Furthermore, the nutritional status of patients admitted for stroke often deteriorates during hospitalization. It is necessary to perform a nutritional assessment of the patient in the early hours of admission, to determine both the nutritional status and the presence of dysphagia. Dysphagia, through alteration of the safety and efficacy of swallowing, is a complication that has an implication for nutritional support, and must be treated to prevent aspiration pneumonia, which is the leading cause of mortality in the stroke patient. Nutritional support should begin in the early hours. In patients with no or mild dysphagia that can be controlled by modifying the texture of the diet, they will start oral diet and oral nutritional supplementation will be used if the patient does not meet their nutritional requirements. There is no evidence to support the use of nutritional supplements routinely. Patients with severe dysphagia, or decreased level of consciousness will require enteral nutrition. Current evidence indicates that early nutrition should be initiated through a nasogastric tube, with any advantages of early feeding gastrostomy. Gastrostomy will be planned when the enteral nutrition support will be expected for long-term (4 weeks). Much evidence points to the importance of glycemic control during hospitalization for stroke. Hyperglycemia at diagnosis and during the first hours of admission impact on patient prognosis. The goal of glycemic control necessary to modify this bad prognosis without adding risk by iatrogenic hypoglycemia is still matter of debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) are one of the most serious concerns in patients on home parenteral nutrition (HPN) which involve high morbidity and cost for the healthcare system. In the last years, taurolidine lock has proven to be beneficial in the prevention of CRBSI; however, the evidence of its efficiency is limited.Objective: to determine if taurolidine lock is a cost-effective intervention in patients on HPN.Materials and Methods: retrospective study in patients on HPN with taurolidine lock. We compared the CRBSI rate and cost of its complications before and during taurolidine lock.Results: thirteen patients, six (46%) males and seven (54%) females, with a mean age of 61.08 (SD = 14.18) years received taurolidine lock. The total days of catheterization pre and per-taurolidine were 12,186 and 5,293, respectively. The underlying disease was benign in five patients (38.5%) and malignant in eight (61.5%). The CRBSI rate pre vs per-taurolidine was 3.12 vs 0.76 episodes per 1,000 catheter days (p = 0.0058). When the indication was a high CRBSI rate, this was 9.72 vs 0.39 (p < 0.001) in pre and per-taurolidine period respectively. No differences have been observed in the occlusion rates. None of the patients reported any adverse effects. The total cost of CRBSI in the pre-taurolidine period was 151,264.14 euros vs 24,331.19 euros in the per-taurolidine period.Conclusions: our study shows that taurolidine lock is a cost-effective intervention in patients on HPN with high risk of CRBSI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: bariatric surgery is widely employed nowadays. Nutritional complications following malabsorptive bariatric surgery are common.Objectives: to compare protein malnutrition incidence, the amount of protein intake and the influence of various risk factors in patients undergoing Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and biliopancreatic diversion (BPD).Methods: retrospective study comparing the development of hypoalbuminemia in 92 patients undergoing BPD and 121 RYGB, before surgery and 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after it. Protein intake was estimated by serum prealbumin. The influence of prior body mass index (BMI), age and sex was analyzed.Results: hypoprealbuminemia was found in around 40% of patients 3 months after both procedures, decreasing to about 10% after 2 years of surgery. Hypoalbuminemia incidence was close to 20% in the first post-surgery year in BPD, persisting in 10-15% of cases thereafter. After RYGB, hypoalbuminemia incidence was lower (5-9% in all postoperative follow-up measurements). During the first year after surgery, hypoalbuminemia was more frequent after BPD than after RYGB (at the 3rd month (OR:3.9; p=0.006; 95%CI:1.5-10.4), 6th (OR:5.0; p=0.002; 95% CI:1.8-13.8), and at the 12th month (OR:4.4;p=0.007;95%;CI:1.5-12.8)), but not after the first year. A higher preoperative BMI favored it (OR: 1.03; p=0.046; 95% CI:1-1.06), as well as greater age during the first 6 months.Conclusion: Patients with BPD had a higher risk for hypoproteinemia than those undergoing RYGB, especially during the first year post-surgery. Higher preoperative BMI, and age (in the short-term period) could have a significant inverse relation to hypoproteinemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]