Supplemented parenteral nutrition at the end-of life: nutritional and technological considerations

Introduction: The end of life (OL) implies a period in which a certain disease or other situation leads to an inexorable path towards death. The clinical situation makes the approach to VF very complex, especially in those stages where the parenteral route is the only way to provide nutritional support. Method: A narrative bibliographic review was carried out based on the search in different databases such as Medline, Science Direct and Scopus of all the articles published until March 2021 that show a series of nutritional and technological considerations of supplemented parenteral nutrition (PN) and your possible benefits at EOL. Results: It is necessary to carry out adequate monitoring of FV with PN to determine the importance of adding nutritional supplements, due to their beneficial effects, such as glutamine, arginine, zinc, chromium, citrulline, selenium, zinc or coenzyme Q to attenuate the alterations typical of FV and avoid new complications. Also, a series of technological criteria must be considered to guarantee the stability of the NP and its nutrients. Conclusions: The supplemented PN that is administered in the FV involves controlling a series of factors that are involved in its stability. Beneficial actions have been observed with NP supplemented with zinc, selenium, chromium and taurine.