Safe and efficient practice of parenteral nutrition in neonates and children aged 0–18 years – The role of licensed multi-chamber bags (15 May, 2024)

Summary

Parenteral nutrition (PN) is recognised as a complex high-risk therapy. Its practice is highly variable and frequently suboptimal in paediatric patients. Optimising care requires evidence, consensus-based guidelines, audits of practice, and standardised strategies. Several paediatric scientific organisations, expert panels, and authorities have recently recommended that standardised PN should generally be used over individualised PN in the majority of paediatric patients including very low birth weight premature infants. In addition, PN admixtures produced and validated by a suitably qualified institution are recommended over locally produced PN. Licensed multi chamber bags are standardised PN bags that comply with Good Manufacturing Practice and high-quality standards for the finished product in the frame of their full manufacturing license.

The purpose of this article, published in Clinical Nutrition, is to review the practical aspects of PN and the evidence for using such multi-chamber bags in paediatric patients. It highlights the safety characteristics and the limitations of the different PN practices and provides some guidance for ensuring safe and efficient therapy in paediatric patients.