Introduction and methodology - Guidelines on Parenteral Nutrition, Chapter 1.

Guidelines for Parenteral Nutrition were prepared by the German Society for Nutritional Medicine (http://www.dgem.de/), in collaboration with other medical associations to provide guidance for quality assurance for parenteral nutrition (PN) practice, and to promoting health and quality of life of patients concerned. A coordination team proposed topics, working group leaders who along with working group members performed systematic literatur searches and drafted recommendations in a nominal group process. Recommendations were discussed and agreed upon in a structured consensus conference process, followed by a Delphi consensus. The current English version of the guidelines was written and updated during the period between the last quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2009. The recommendations of the guidelines should be reviewed, and if necessary updated five years after publication.