Abstract
Management of the nutrition support team (NST) in an abdominal emergency is often difficult. We herein evaluated two different support methods in two different hospitals with which the first author was connected, and which proved to be practical and effective. In the first of these hospitals (a general emergency hospital), the first author belonged to the Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, working full time in the ICU and as the NST director, and as such performed earlier support. In the second hospital (with a high-level emergency center), to which the first author was subsequently transferred as a digestive surgeon, the authors developed the existing support method for the NST and also established an early support system. In both hospitals, the end-point of the activity was that patients “could receive the required calories from the alimentary tract”. We continued support after the patients’ discharge from the ICU. Because the achievement rates reached 70% in both institutions, the NST appeared to be effective. Although understanding and cooperating with NST activity in hospitals and improvement of the nutritional support-technique of the team are still needed, it can be made possible in all institutions through cooperation among all hospital personnel. The outcome of abdominal emergencies can be expected to improve by starting involvement with the NST earlier, and subsequently continuing support from the nutritional team.
