Progress in the use of elemental diets in infants and children.

The clinical use of elemental diets to provide adequate nutrition in the infant or child in a catabolic state will, undoubtedly, increase as experience confirms the effectiveness and safety of this technique. The value of total parenteral nutrition and nutrition given through the peripheral vein should, in no way, be underestimated, since many infants and children will still require this form of nutrition during periods when the intestine is not available for alimentation. The use of elemental diets in the transitional period between total parenteral nutrition and more conventional feedings as well as in providing nutritional support when the intestine is totally or partially available provides a method of earlier discontinuance of parenteral nutrition and, hence, decreases the incidence of mechanical, metabolic and septic complications associated with intravenously administered nutrition. Each patient should be considered individually and a decision made as to whether or not enteral hyperalimentation can be used in place of, or in conjunction with, parenteral nutrition.