Prevention and management of refeeding syndrome
To ensure adequate prevention, the NICE guidelines recommend a
thorough nutritional assessment before refeeding is started.
Recent weight change over time, nutrition,
alcohol intake, and social and psychological problems should all be ascertained.
Plasma electrolytes (especially phosphate, sodium, potassium, and magnesium)
and glucose should be measured at baseline before feeding and any deficiencies
corrected during feeding with close monitoring.
For decades, the key to preventing the syndrome
was believed to be lower-calorie refeeding with cautious advancement. preventing the syndrome
The NICE guidelines recommend that refeeding is
started at no more than 50% of energy requirements for the 1st 2
days in " patients who have eaten little or nothing for more than 5 days.” The rate can then be increased if no refeeding problems are
detected on clinical and biochemical monitoring.
The prescription for people at high risk of
developing refeeding problems should consider:
· starting
nutrition support at a maximum of 10 kcal/kg/day, increasing levels slowly to
meet or exceed full needs by 4 to 7 days.
· using
only 5 kcal/kg/day in extreme cases (for example, BMI less than 14 kg/m2 or
negligible intake for more than 15 days) and monitoring cardiac rhythm
continually in these people and any others who already have or develop any
cardiac arrythmias.
· restoring
circulatory volume and monitoring fluid balance and overall clinical status
closely.
·
providing
immediately before and during the first 10 days of feeding: oral thiamin 200 to
300 mg daily, vitamin B co strong 1 or 2 tablets, 3 times a day (or full dose
daily intravenous vitamin B preparation, if necessary) and a balanced
multivitamin or trace element supplement once daily.
· providing
oral, enteral or intravenous Maintenance
requirement of potassium (likely requirement 2 to 4 mmol/kg/day), phosphate
(likely requirement 0.3 to 0.6 mmol/kg/day) and magnesium (likely requirement
0.2 mmol/kg/day intravenous, 0.4 mmol/kg/day oral) unless pre-feeding plasma
levels are high; pre-feeding correction of low plasma levels is unnecessary.
The following guidance is a suggestion for
possible electrolyte repletion for refeeding syndrome in adolescents with
eating disorders: