ABSTRACT
To investigate in the literature the current knowledge about the effects of parenteral nutrition supplemented with glutamine in surgical patients. This is a review, carried out by searching for original articles, published in the last five years, in English and Portuguese, indexed in the PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases. 92 articles were retrieved, of which 10.8% (n = 10) were included in this review, for full text reading. It was observed that of the studies compiled, 80% (n = 8) demonstrated improvement in the number of surgical patients in response to glutamine supplementation associated with Parenteral Nutrition Therapy (PNT). Only two studies observed an increase in plasma glutamine levels after the supplementation period. 10% (n = 1) of the findings pointed to a greater effectiveness of supplementation of combined immunomodulators (polyunsaturated fatty acids and glutamine), in surgical patients aged 40 to 68 years, and that 20% (n = 2) of the studies did not indicate relevant results. The findings raised suggest that glutamine supplementation seems to have positive effects on the clinical and metabolic condition of patients in the postoperative period, with emphasis on reducing the occurrence of complications and the time of PNT.
Disclosure statement
Nothing to declare.