Medical and Nutritional Outcomes Are Similar Among Autologous Transplant Patients on Enteral Nutrition When Compared to Parenteral Nutrition. A Randomized Pilot Study

Autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) is the treatment for myeloma and lymphoma. posttreatment, significant nutritional and medical issues and malnutrition assessed by Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) arise. No established effective treatment for using either parenteral (PN) or enteral routes (EN) to improve nutritional status, reduce medical complications, and be cost-effective is available. We investigated the effectiveness of EN versus PN in terms of nutritional path of supplementation. AHSCT patients were randomized to either EN or PN and were followed at baseline, 15 and 30 days posttransplant. Age, body mass index, SGA, length of stay (LOS), medical complications, severity of complications, infections, overall survival (Day 100), albumin, random blood glucose, and C-reactive protein were evaluated. Descriptive statistics, Spearman's, chi square, correlations, and uni- and multivariate by type of feed, using SPSS v 29. Thirty-six patients with complete medical and laboratory data were followed. No significance in any of the medical or nutritional parameters between the two groups was found. No correlations between SGA at any time point and type of feeding were identified. No relationship between SGA, LOS, complications, albumin, CRP, or random blood glucose at all three time points was seen. EN is a safe, convenient, and cost-effective option for AHSCT patients since medical and nutritional outcomes were similar between those receiving EN compared to PN.