Evaluation of the first five years of home parenteral nutrition by a health care provider in French region of Limousin

The French region of Limousin uses since 2003 a health care provider for home parenteral nutrition (HPN). An evaluation of the first five years was performed in a retrospective manner, concerning 494 stays of 375 different patients, aged 60.9 +/- 12.7 years, between January 1st 2003 and December 31, 2007. Concerning the HPN, 77.5% were made for cancer patients, 49.7% had a C Detsky index and the average of Karnovsky index was 73.5. The nutrition used in 84.2% of cases an injection site. The three administrative departments of the region received 77.3% of stays. The comparative analysis showed that age of cancer patients was higher, their Detsky index was worse, their ingesta were lower, and that they died more frequently during their follow-up than patients with digestive non-cancer disease. The small follow-up duration in digestive non-cancer patients could be due to a recruitment in perioperative period for them, or could be linked with their need of only refeeding limited sequences. This activity of HPN with a health care provider was useful, answering to a large number of demands, particularly for cancer patients. (C) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.