Benefits of early specialized nutritional support in malnourished patients

Abstract Introduction and objective Disease related malnutrition (DRM) is highly prevalent in Spain, affecting 23% of in-hospital patients, and is associated with clinical complications. Specialized nutritional support (SNS) can reduce these complications. Material and methods Prospective study carried out in standard clinical practice conditions to test if SNS during the first 5 days of hospitalization, or subsequently, was associated to a lower length of stay or reduced complications in patients with a NRS-2002 score ≥ 3 points. Results In the group of patients who initiated early SNS, the length of stay was 8.83 days shorter than in the group with a later introduction (95% CI 3.55–14.10); nevertheless, the higher prevalence of male and oncological patients in this group could have impacted the results. A tendency towards a statistically significant lower mortality rate and a reduced amount of total complications was described. Conclusion The early introduction of SNS (within the first 5 days of hospitalization) in patients with DRM was associated with a 32.4% reduction in the length of stay.