Yes. Depending on the patient’s clinical needs and treatment plan, parenteral nutrition can be administered in hospitals, long-term care facilities or homecare settings.
Parenteral nutrition
Delivering nutrition when the digestive tract cannot
Parenteral nutrition is an essential component of care for patients who cannot meet their nutritional needs through oral or enteral feeding. In acute, chronic, and complex clinical situations, it helps ensure that patients receive essential nutritional support as part of their treatment pathway - in hospital, in critical care, and, where appropriate, at home. Our commitment to parenteral nutrition is grounded in scientific expertise and close collaboration with healthcare professionals. We support care teams with the knowledge, reliable solutions, and services needed to integrate parenteral nutrition into daily practice and help patients continue their care journey when conventional nutrition is not possible, insufficient, or contraindicated.
When patients cannot receive adequate nutrition through normal digestion
Medical Nutrition is a fundamental part of patient care, yet many conditions prevent patients from meeting nutritional requirements through eating, drinking or enteral feeding. In these situations, inadequate nutrition can contribute to poorer clinical outcomes, delayed recovery, and increased healthcare complexity.
Parenteral nutrition provides essential nutrients directly into the bloodstream via infusion, bypassing the gastrointestinal tract entirely. This approach can help patients of all ages, from newborns to older adults, receive the nutrition they need when oral or tube feeding is not possible or sufficient.1
Parenteral nutrition is widely regarded as one of the major medical advances of the 20th century, supporting patients who otherwise could not receive adequate nutrition by providing a carefully balanced mixture of amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals directly into the bloodstream.2 Today, parenteral nutrition supports patient care across a variety of settings, enabling continuity of nutritional support beyond the hospital when clinically appropriate.
Who may require parenteral nutrition?
Patients may require parenteral nutrition for a range of acute and chronic conditions that impair digestive function or increase nutritional requirements beyond what the body can absorb.
Parenteral nutrition may benefit patients with:
- Acute diseases or conditions that temporarily impair or reduce the bowel’s ability to process food
- Conditions associated with elevated nutritional demands that cannot be met through oral or enteral feeding, including severe burns
- Long-term or permanent loss of normal bowel function due to conditions including cancer, Crohn’s disease, short bowel syndrome and ischemic bowel disease2,3
Where and how parenteral nutrition is delivered
Parenteral nutrition can be administered in hospitals, long-term care facilities and home-care settings, depending on the patient’s clinical needs and treatment plan.4
- Central venous delivery: highly concentrated parenteral nutrition solutions typically delivered through a catheter placed in a large vein near the heart, commonly used for short- to long-term nutrition support and for formulations that are not suitable for smaller peripheral veins1
- Peripheral venous delivery: parenteral nutrition may be administered through peripheral veins in the hand or forearm for shorter treatment durations, providing a flexible option for patients to bridge to oral or enteral nutrition in order to close nutritional gaps or to provide immediate nutritional support when a central venous catheter is not available4
Parenteral nutrition bypasses the gastrointestinal tract entirely
Delivering essential nutrients directly into the bloodstream.
From hospital to home
Parenteral nutrition can support continuity of care across treatment settings.
Comprehensive parenteral nutrition solutions supporting healthcare professionals and patients
Parenteral nutrition often involves multidisciplinary care teams that include physicians, pharmacists, dietitians, nurses, and home-care specialists. Many patients continue receiving parenteral nutrition after discharge, whether in long-term care facilities or at home, supported by specialized healthcare teams and established treatment protocols.1
We are among the global leaders in integrated nutrition care and is by the side of healthcare professionals every day in parenteral nutrition. With science-based expertise, quality-focused standards, flexible support, and ongoing innovation, we help care teams integrate parenteral nutrition into daily practice and support appropriate nutritional care across the continuum - from hospital to home. Our comprehensive parenteral nutrition portfolio – from single components to multi-chamber bags for easy application – is designed to help clinicians address diverse patient needs through a broad range of formulations and delivery options, supporting care from acute treatment settings through long-term nutritional management at home.
Effective parenteral nutrition also depends on reliable infusion systems. We offer medical technology solutions that support nutrition therapy and medication delivery across care environments.
Explore more
FAQ
Parenteral nutrition is intravenous nutrition. It delivers essential nutrients directly into the bloodstream when the gastrointestinal tract cannot absorb or use enough nutrition.
Parenteral nutrition may be used when eating, drinking or enteral feeding cannot meet a patient’s nutritional needs. This can occur in acute or chronic conditions that impair bowel function or increase nutritional requirements.
References
1. American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN). What is parenteral nutrition? https://nutritioncare.org/about/what-we-do/nutrition-support/what-is-parenteral-nutrition/
2. Worthington P, Balint J, Bechtold M, et al. When Is Parenteral Nutrition Appropriate?. JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2017;41(3):324-377.
3. Rodriguez NA, Jeschke MG, Williams FN, Kamolz LP, Herndon DN. “Nutrition in burns: Galveston contributions.” JPEN Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. 2011;35(6):704-714.
4. Senkal et al., Clinical Nutrition ESPEN 43 (2021) 16-24.