Community Dietitian Kirstie Allan has been working on a new method to help patients who can’t feed themselves and presented her research at a prestigious national conference.
Kirstie was at the annual BAPEN (British Association of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition) conference in Gateshead.
Parenteral nutrition means feeding intravenously whereas enteral nutrition is delivered through a tube to the stomach or the small intestine. Certain medical conditions may require parenteral nutrition for a short or longer time. Some people need it to supplement their diet, and some people need to get all of their calories intravenously.
Kirstie delivered a keynote presentation about her pilot equation, which estimates a patient’s calorie requirements after surgery, using mid-upper arm circumference (a measurement of the thickness of the upper arm at the mid-point).
The equations currently in use are based on a person’s weight, however, there are limitations to this for this patient group, not least the difficulty in measuring the person’s weight. Using mid-upper arm circumference may help to more accurately estimate calorie requirements for post-surgical patients, better meeting their nutritional needs and maximising recovery.
Debbie Barrowman, Home Enteral Feeding Dietitian and Kirstie’s team leader, was also at the conference and said: “Kirstie did amazingly well, presenting to a large audience of experts in nutrition support at this early stage in her career. She should be proud of her achievement.”
Kirstie also displayed a poster on the research along with two others on:
- Metabolic response, energy expenditure and nutritional status of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass (CABG) surgery;
- Comparison of measured and predicted energy expenditure among patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery.
Kirstie undertook the study with George Grimble (University College London) and Laura Perry and Sarah Illingworth (London Metropolitan University), and is now seeking opportunities to build on her initial research.
