Influence of age and type of underlying disease on complications related to home enteral nutrition: a single Italian center experience

Background: No data about the influence of age and underlying diseases on home enteral nutrition (HEN)-related complications are reported in the literature. Herein, we retrospectively investigated this issue by analyzing HEN-related complications in a cohort of consecutive patients grouped according to the underlying disease and age.

Material and methods: We reviewed the medical records of 101 patients referring to our team in 2007-2010 to obtain patients' demographic data, age, nutrition status, duration of HEN treatment, and type of HEN-related complications. They were divided in cancer and neurologic patients and subgrouped on the basis of their age. HEN-related complications were expressed as complication rates.

Results: Patients with neurological diseases suffered a significantly higher number of complications as compared with cancer patients (P = .04). Age did not significantly influence complication rates. The mechanical complications were the most frequent. The majority of HEN-related complications were resolved at home.

Conclusion: Our data strongly suggest that HEN-related complications are influenced by underlying diseases and not by age. In neurologic patients, dementia, loss of autonomy, and the different therapies administered by PEG probably play an important role in increasing the number of HEN-related complications as compared with cancer patients. The most frequent complications can be managed at home, reducing the costs of hospitalizations and discomfort for the patient.