Parenteral nutrition is considered an essential element of the perioperative management of surgical patients. It is recommended in patients who require nutritional therapy but in whom the enteral route is contraindicated, not recommended or non-feasible. The new generation of lipid emulsions (LEs) based on olive and fish oils are safe and may improve clinical outcome in surgical patients. The increased provision of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish oil-containing LEs seems to be associated with fewer infectious complications and shorter ICU and hospital stays following major abdominal surgery. Increased provision of olive oil in the absence of fish oil may also exert beneficial effects, but a clear conclusion on this is limited due to the low number of available studies. Hence, at the moment, the evidence supports the use of n-3-polyunsaturated fatty acid-enriched LEs as a part of the parenteral nutrition regimen for selected groups of patients, such as those with major surgical trauma or those undergoing extended resections or liver transplantation.
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