Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)

Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)

Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) is the process of using intravenous injection for the purpose of feeding a patient and bypassing their digestive system.

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Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.
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TPN will provide Carin with all the amino acids, salts, lipids, glucose and vitamins that her body needs since the bowel obstruction is preventing normal activity of her gastrointestinal tract.

During feeding time, a medical infusion pump will continuously push nutrient solution from a sterile bag into her body. This process may take up to 14 hours per day. There is a possibility of using a battery powered ambulatory pump which Carin can transport in a back-pack. This will allow her to feed while she performs her daily tasks.

Chronic TPN may be performed using a Central Intravenous Catheter which is inserted into a person's subclavian or jugular vein.

Carin will be receiving Total Parenteral Nutrition through a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter. Her PICC line has been inserted through her arm and then runs toward her heart until the tip reaches her distal superior vena cava or cavo-atrial junction.

There are several precautions that must be taken when administering Total Parenteral Nutrition. The most common complication associated with TPN is bacterial infection. Carin's risk is minimised by the fact that she received a PICC line instead of the Central Intravenous Catheter.

Liver failure is another potential hazard due to difficulty processing food taken directly into the blood stream.

Three additional but even less likely complication may include non-anion gap metabolic acidosis, venous thrombosis and priapism.

For further study of Total Parenteral Nutrition and related topics you may wish to peruse the following recommended reference materials.

Nutrition essentials for nursing practice / Susan G. Dudek.Published: Philadelphia : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, c2007.

Williams' essentials of nutrition and diet therapy.Published: Philadelphia : Edinburgh : Mosby Elsevier, c2007.

Fluids & electrolytes : a 2-in-1 reference for nurses.Published: Philadelphia : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, c2006.

Handbook of clinical nutrition and aging / edited by Connie W. Bales and Christine Seel Ritchie ; foreword by Robert M. Russell.Published: Totowa, N.J. : Humana Press, c2004.

Contemporary nutrition support practice : a clinical guide / [edited by] Laura E. Matarese, Michele M. Gottschlich.Published: Philadelphia : Saunders, c2003.

Parenteral nutrition for adults [videorecording] / [produced by] HSTN ; PRIMEDIA Healthcare.Published: Carrollton, TX : PRIMEDIA Workplace Learning : [Toronto, Ont.] : distributed by Medical Audio Visual, c[2004].

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