New Developments in Clinical Practice Guidelines

Abstract

During the last four years revised clinical practice guidelines on nutritional support have been published by the major nutritional societies worldwide. The aim of these guidelines is to promote the safe and effective care of patients who need nutritional support as part of their overall management. All guidelines are based on the available “best evidence” in order to assist nutrition professionals in making decisions on the appropriate and cost-effective nutritional practices. Although such guidelines are a useful tool to patient management, they are meant to support, not replace, the clinical judgment and experience of nutrition professionals. During the last four years revised clinical practice guidelines have been published by the major nutritional societies: The American Society of Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition (ASPEN) 1, the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) 2-11 and the Canadian Critical Care Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee(CCPG)12 with latest updates from www.criticalcarenutrition.com. These guidelines agree on most points concerning the nutritional support of critical ill patients and will be outlined in a short form. Any discrepancies will be highlighted. This outline follows the structure of the most recent ASPEN guideline.1 The grade of evidence (A-E) is given in brackets as appropriate. Due considerations relating to special diagnoses have not been incorporated in this paper.