Meléndez G

Language: Spanish
References: 11
Page: 21-26
PDF size: 128.85 Kb.

ABSTRACT

Advent of artificial nutrition into clinical settings during the past 30 years has impelled development of important new technologies. Use of parenteral paths for infusing energy substrates has saved lives whose otherwise would have died as consequence of starvation and malnutrition. However, methods currently in use for calculating patients’ energy requirements have not changed and at present we are still applying equations 82 years old. New generations of nutritionists are not aware of where these popular equations, such as the Harris-Benedict, were derived from and simply adopt them without a question, ignoring that there exist alternative methods for calculating basal energy expenditure, with functions including metabolic size, which have better physiologic modeling and precision, particularly in low weight, low height individuals.
The present review is a brief description of events about the origins and evolution of functions for calculating surface area, the allometric relation of energy expenditure among homeothermic animals, better known as metabolic size and basal energy expenditure; all these concepts are intimately related among each other and represent the fundamentals for energy requirement estimates, which is part of our current practice at the time we deal with patients bearing different nutritional pathologies.

REFERENCES

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