A Computer Program for Calculating Intravenous Feeding Regimens and its Application in a Teaching Hospital and a District General Hospital

The provision of nutrients for hospitalised patients by routes other than oral can be expensive. The cost of infusion fluids for typical patients on intravenous feeding is about £30 per day and it has been estimated that one Regional Health Authority spends roughly £1 million a year on intravenous fluids alone, (1). The normal ‘rule of thumb’ management of short-term intravenous feeding relies on the innate clinical judgement of the experienced clinician and cost is not usually an important consideration in such cases. However, prolonged illness with its associated metabolic and nutritional problems is more difficult to manage since at least ten inter-related variables may need to be taken into account, often on an hour-to-hour basis. Without aid, calculation of intravenous feeding regimens for such patients in real time becomes almost impossible and costing is almost invariably disregarded.