The American journal of clinical nutrition
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Enteral compared with parenteral nutrition: a meta-analysis.
The difference in outcomes in patients is unclear when 2 types of enteral nutrition, ie, tube feeding and conventional oral diets with intravenous dextrose (standard care), are compared with parenteral nutrition. ⋯ Tube feeding and standard care are associated with a lower risk of infection than is parenteral nutrition; however, mortality is higher and the risk of infection tends to be higher with standard care than with parenteral nutrition in malnourished populations.