Nutritional support in inflammatory bowel disease.

Malnutrition is common in inflammatory bowel disease; deficiencies of multiple micronutrients and macronutrients can present a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to the clinician. Enteral and parenteral nutrition have been used as adjunctive therapy to correct or prevent malnutrition in inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, some authors have advocated enteral and parenteral nutrition as primary therapy of acute inflammatory bowel disease. The efficacy of these nutritional therapies in the management of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis is reviewed.