Nutrition is essential for human health. Malnutrition in the hospital setting is common, and often underrecognised. Malnutrition increases morbidity, length of stay and mortality in patients, and increases postoperative complications. Patients' nutritional status should be screened upon admission and if there is evidence of a poor nutritional state, the patient should be referred for further evaluation and management. Nutritional requirements may vary in disease states and the route of feeding is dependent on the patient's disease and organ function. These issues will be addressed in this review.
Nutritional Requirements ; Malnutrition