Elsevier

Clinical Nutrition

Volume 25, Issue 2, April 2006, Pages 180-186
Clinical Nutrition

INTRODUCTION PART TO THE ESPEN GUIDELINES ON ENTERAL NUTRITION
Introductory to the ESPEN Guidelines on Enteral Nutrition: Terminology, Definitions and General Topics

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2006.02.007Get rights and content

Summary

The ESPEN guidelines on enteral nutrition are the first evidence-based European recommendations for enteral nutrition. They were established by European experts for a variety of disease groups. During guideline development it became evident that terms and definitions in clinical nutrition have been used inconsistently depending on medical disciplines as well as regional and personal preferences. Therefore, to increase explanatory accuracy it was necessary to unify them. In this chapter terms and definitions used throughout all guidelines are explained. Additionally answers to more general questions, which might be important in most indications are dealt with, i.e. use of fibre containing and diabetes formulae.

The full version of this article is available at www.espen.org.

Introduction

The aim of the ESPEN guidelines on enteral nutrition (EN) is to evaluate the evidence on EN in different indications and serve as orientation tools for distinct decisions in clinical practice. Therefore, the single chapters focus on specific questions relevant to the respective indication. More general questions, which might be important in all or several indications are dealt with in this introductory chapter to avoid repetition. Furthermore, the terminology and definitions used throughout these guidelines are also explained in this chapter.

Section snippets

Terminology

The following terms are used throughout the ESPEN guidelines for EN.

Definitions

The following definitions are used in the guidelines.

General topics

The following paragraphs deal with the question if fiber containing fomulae or specific diabetes formulae have an advantage over standard formulae, since these formulae might be used in many different indications and these questions are not discussed in other chapters of the guidelines.

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