P.O.Box 2345, Beijing 100023,China World J Gastroenterol 2002;8(6):1149-1152Fax: +86-10-85381893 World Journal of GastroenterologyE-mail: wcjd@public.bta.net.cn www.wjgnet.com Copyright 2002 by The WJG Press ISSN 1007-9327
Sequential changes of body composition in patients with enterocutaneous fistula during the 10 days after admission Xin-Bo Wang, Jian-An Ren, Jie-Shou Li, Clinical School of
nutritional stability[1]. Unfortunately, accurate nutritional
Medical College, Nanjing University, Research Institute of General
assessment is difficult in patients with enterocutaneous fistula
Surgery, Nanjing General Hospital, People’s Liberation Army,
because standard laboratory methods are inaccurate and the
techniques used to precisely assess metabolic compartments
Correspondence to: Dr. Xin-Bo Wang, Research Institute of General
are complex, expensive, and of limited availability, especially
Surgery, Nanjing General Hospital, People’s Liberation Army, 305
in China. Assessment of body composition may provide
East Zhongshan Road, Nanjing 210002, Jiangsu Province, China. wang_xb@sohu.com
important information about the nutritional status[2] .The
Fax: +86-25-4803956
applicability of one safe and convenient methods for body
Received 2002-06-01 Accepted 2002-07-22
composition analysis, multiple-frequency bioelectricalimpedance analysis (MFBIA) in malnourished patients withenterocutaneous fistula has been sparsely elucidated[3] . Abstract
Thus, the aim of the present study is to investigate thesequential changes of body composition in the metabolic
AIM: To investigate the sequential changes of body
resp onse th at occu rred in a grou p of patients with
composition in the metabolic response that occurred in a
enterocutaneous fistula after admission to the hospital.
group of patients with enterocutaneous fistula after
MATERIALS AND METHODS METHODS: Sixty-one patients with enterocutaneous fistula Patients
admitted to our hospital had measurements of body
composition by multiple-frequency bioelectrical impedance
Between December 1, 2000, and November 30, 2001, 86 patients
analysis after admission and 5, 10 days later. Sequential
suffering from enterocutaneous fistula (EF) were admitted to
measurements of plasma constitutive proteins were also made.
the EF Treatment Group of Institute of General Surgery at JinlingHospital, Nanjing, China. All of these patients wholly recruitedfrom other inpatient clinic were included in the study. EF care
RESULTS: The body weight, fat-free mass, body mass
index, and body cel mass were initial y wel below the normal
at our hospital took place more than thirty years ago in a well
range, especial y the body mass index and body cel mass.
coordinated system of pre-hospital and in-hospital care that
And al the data gradual y moved up over the 10-day study
includes good co-operation with other hospitals, radio-telephone
period, only a highly significant difference was found in body
communication, and a high-level, in-hospital EF team response
cel mass. Once the patients received nutrition supplement,
and experience, which includes rapid assessment, resuscitation,
ECW began to return to normal range slowly as wel as ICW
stabilization, and sequential therapeusis according to well-
and TBW began to rise up, and ECW/TBW significantly
declined to near normal level by day 10 in either male or
At the time of admission, all patients studied were able to
female patients. There was a reprioritization of plasma
accomplish the analysis of body composition in standing
constitutive protein synthesis that was obligatory and
position for 3 minutes. None of the patients were treated with
diuretics and prednisolone and they had exclusion of anymetabolic disease. For each patient, diagnosis was made onclinical presentation: definite history of operation, temperature
CONCLUSION: Serial measurements can quantify the
disturbance of body composition in enterocutaneous fistula
spikes, elevated white cell counts, increasing abdominal
patients. The early nutritional intervention rapidly ameliorates
tenderness, wound infection, and drainage of succus entericus
the abnormal distribution of body water while the state-of-
from intraperitonal drains. Initial management of the patients
the-art surgical management prevents the further
invariably involved fluid resuscitation, repletion of depleted
deterioration in cel ular composition.
electrolytes, maintenance of systemic and multi-organicfunction, active suction drainage of succus entericus,
Wang XB, Ren JA, Li JS. Sequential changes of body composition
appropriate broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy to control sepsis,
in patients with enterocutaneous fistula during the 10 days after
pharmacological approaches including H2 antagonists,
admission. World J Gastroenterol 2002; 8(6):1149-1152
somatostatin and growth hormone if needed[5] ,and nutritionalsupplementation. Some patients who needed promptexploration of the abdominal cavity to control generalized
INTRODUCTION
peritonitis or definitive pus were excluded from the study. Nutrition was given enterally (Peptide, Nutricia, Dutch)
Malnutrition is common in patients with enterocutaneous
when possible[4]. The caloric distribution of the formula was
fistula, over a period of time, giving rise to alterations in body
16.5 % protein, 22.7 % fat, and 60.8 % carbohydrate
co mp o si ti o n , as w ell a s s y s tem ic an d m u l tio rg an
administered by the nasogastric, nasojejunal, gastrostomic,
manifestations. Malnutrition is also associated with adverse
jejunostomic, or any available intestinal route[4, 6] . Nutritional
outcomes, whereas clinical stability is associated with
intake was increased up to 2000Kcal/d according a standard
1150 ISSN 1007-9327 CN 14-1219/ R World J Gastroenterol December 15, 2002 Volume 8 Number 6
protocol. Patients with contraindications to enteral feeding were
patients who did not complete the protocol, 11 underwent prompt
given parenteral nutrition by dedicated single-lumen central
laparotomy exploration to control sepsis, the remaining 14 were
venous catheters. The initial daily prescription of 17 g nitrogen,
too weakness to stand up to complete the body composition
1000Kcal from glucose, and 500Kcal from fat was modified
measurement. The 61 enterocutaneous fistula patients were all
on the basis of size, renal function, and indirect calorimetry.
secondary to alimentary tract operation, 18 secondary to cancer,10 secondary to inflammatory bowel diseases, 2 secondary to
Study protocol
pancreatitis, 5 secondary to digestive ulcer, 26 secondary to
Patients underwent serial measurements of plasma protein
trauma, intestinal obstruction, and cholelithiasis.
concentrations and body composition during a period of 10 days.
Of the 51 male patients, 24 received total parenteral nutrition,
The first studies were performed as soon as hemodynamic
the remaining 27 received enteral nutrition with or without
stability was achieved without either colloid infusion or
parenteral feeding. Of the 10 female patients, 3 received TPN,
increasing inotropic support (day 0). The body composition
and the remaining 7 received total or partial enteral feeding.
measurements were repeated 5, 10 after admission in the
Nutrition was administered continuously. There was no apparent
Department of General Surgery by one medician. Measurements
clinical manifestation of peripheral extremity edema, ascites, or
of the plasma protein were also made 10 days later.
other intra-abdominal fluid collections just before bodycomposition measurement. The median time from admission to
Techniques of body composition analysis
receiving the nutritional support was 2 days (range 1 to 3 days).
Body composition measurements were made in all subjectsusing an multiple-frequency bioelectrical impedance (MFBIA)
Table 1 Clinical data of patients recruited for the study
model InBody 3.0 (Biospace, Seoul, Korea). As one of thelatest impedance analyzers, InBody 3.0 uses state-of-the-art
technology, an 8-point tactile electrode system that measuresthe total and segmental impedance and phase angle of
alternating electric current at four different frequencies (5 kHz,
Impedance measurements were made with the subjectstanding in an upright position, on foot electrodes in the
platform of the instrument, with the legs not touching the thighs
and the arms not touching the torso. The subject stood on the
four foot electrodes: two oval shape electrodes and two heel
shape electrodes, and gripped the two Palm-and-Thumbelectrodes in order to yield two thumb electrodes and two palm
electrodes, without shoes or excess clothing (coats, sweaters,
Some patients had multiple-origin enterocutaneous fistulas.
vests). The skin and the electrodes were precleaned using thespecific electrolyte tissue according to the manufacturer’s
Body composition measurements
instructions. Prior to this, height (stadiometry) was recorded
The body weight, BMI, FFM, and BCM in the male patients
to the nearest 0.1 cm. All the subjects were instructed to fast
were initially well below the normal range (in our own data),
and to avoid exercise 8 h before measurement and had been
especially BMI and BCM, which can be accounted for the
resting for at least 30 min before measurement.
severely malnutritional state of these enterocutaneous fistula
All the body composition data were performed in the
patients. All the data gradually moved up over the 10-day study
instrument by inner software and typed in the result sheet
period (in Table 2), only a highly significant difference was
immediately after measuring. The software performs provides
found in BCM. As is also shown in Table 3, except for the
a plot of reactive and resistive components of the measured
female patients received a significant increase in FFM as well
impedance at each frequency, as well as body weight, fat-free
as in BCM. As to the differences of FFM in gender-specific,
mass (FFM), total body water (TBW), intra-/extra-cellular
the causes may be attributed to the small case number, the
water (ICW/ECW), segmental fluid distribution, fat mass (FM),
gentle state of illness, and the high proportion of enteral feeding
body cell mass (BCM) and body mass index (BMI).
of the female patients. The latter intensifies the benefits ofenteral nutrition in the treatment of enterocutaneous fistula in
Plasma proteins
early course and needs further refinement in future research.
Fibronectin, transferrin, and prealbumin were measured as
Once the patients received nutrition supplement, ECW
markers of the constitutive plasma proteins. These were
began to return to normal slowly as well as ICW and TBW
determined by ELISA assay using kits of Pointe, UK.
began to raise to normal, and ECW/TBW (which should bethe index of edema) significantly declined to near normal by
Statistical methods
day 10 in either male or female patients. Finally, TW and TW/
Analyses were performed using SPSS10.0. Paired student’s t
TBW in male patients significantly increased on Day 5 and
test was used to detect significant changes over time. Values
then slowly decreased on Day 10, which may be attributable
to excess fluid locating in the trunk for abdominal infection or
intolerance to early enteral feeding. Plasma proteins
Twenty of 61 patients at random underwent serial measurement
Patients
of plasma protein concentration (Shown in Table 4). We found
Sixty-one of the 86 patients who were recruited into the study
that fibronectin, transferrin, and prealbumin concentrations,
completed the protocol, and their clinical diagnostic details are
which were initially well below the normal range increasingly
listed in Table 1. During the 10 days after admission, Of the 25
raised up without significance by Day 10 (P>0.05).
Wang XB et al. Body composition on enterocutaneous fistula
Table 2 Demographic and body composition data for male (n=51)
and monitoring of enterocutaneous fistula patients. Enterocutaneous fistula is a condition in which overnutrition,
edema, and undernutrition can coexist simultaneously, or
successively, over a period of time, giving rise to alterations inbody composition, as well as systemic and multiple-organic
manifestations. The development of a noninvasive, inexpensive,
and accurate technique to assess body water and nutritionalcompartment would be of great clinical value to identify those
patients with impaired morbidity and mortality in enterocutaneous
fistula, and enhanced nutritional support is indicated in those
patients with persisting nutritional deficits[4, 7].
Bioelectrical impedance analysis is a technique of assessing
body composition such as total body water and thus fat-freemass in the healthy population[8]. And in a number of conditions
such as hemodialysis[9], pregnancy[10], hepatic cirrhosis[11], after
surgery[12], and in critical illness[13], changes in TBW have been
shown to be accompanied by changes in impedance. However,
in situations where there are clinically important changes in
intraceullar and extracellular water distribution, such as ascites[11]
and critical illness[14], the value of single-frequency BIA islimited. It is proposed that multiple-frequency BIA (MFBIA)
BM I= bod y ma ss in dex , TB W=t ot a l bo dy w a te r ,
may be of particular use in patients with altered distribution of
ECW=extracellular water, ICW=intracellular water, FM=fat
body water[2]. At low frequency, the current passes through the
mass, FFM=fat-free mass, BCM=body cell mass, TW=trunk
extracellular fluids because of the capacitance effect of cell
water aP<0.05, bP<0.01 vs Day0.
membranes and tissue interfaces, whereas at high frequencies,the current is conduced through both intra-and extracellular
Table 3 Demographic and body composition data for female (n=10)
fluids. The Biospace InBody 3.0 body-composition analyzer isa novel device to estimate body water compartments and body
fat. It differs from other impedance systems, which uses an 8-
point tactile electrode system that measures the total andsegmental impedance and phase angle of alternating electric
current at four different frequencies between 5 and 500 kHz. BMI was found to be an important predictor of mortality in
clinic study, with the association between body mass index and
mortality suggesting the U-shaped relation corroborated by many
studies[15]. Although BMI in our study was initially well below
the normal range, there were no significant differences in BMI
over the study period for male and female patients as well as inbody weight and FFM. However, there were highly significant
differences in BCM changes over the study period (Table 2 and
Table 3). Weight and BMI do not definitely evaluate changes in
body compartments and therefore do not reveal if loss of FFM or
gain in FM occurs[16]. The keenness and speediness in the response
of BCM to medical intervention made a strong impression on us.
BCM provides an ideal reference for metabolic studies inenterocutaneous fistula, while less specific parameters such as
body weight, BMI or FFM (which include non-metabolic compart-
BM I= bod y ma ss in dex , TB W=t ot a l bo dy w a te r ,
ments such as ECW) should be interpreted with caution[17].
ECW=extracellular water, ICW=intracellular water, FM=fat
Therefore, we emphasize the importance of measurement of the
mass, FFM=fat-free mass, BCM=body cell mass, TW=trunk
growth of the metabolically active body compartment, the BCM,
water, aP<0.05, bP<0.01 vs Day0.
in accurately assessing nutritional status in enterocutaneous fistula. And it would be useful in future research to investigate whether
Table 4 Results of plasma proteins over 10 days
the relation between BCM and mortality is also U-shaped in criticalillness especially in enterocutaneous fistula. This question may
be more amenable to investigate in relatively small, short studies,provided that an appropriate tool for assessment of body
composition in enterocutaneous fistula patients is used.
Our results show once again that there is a reprioritization
of hepatic protein synthesis in enterocutaneous fistula[18] thatis obligatory and independ ent of chang es in FFM.
FN=fibronectin, TF=transferrin, PA=prealbumin aPvs Day0.
Concentrations of the constitutive plasma proteins falleninitially raised up over the study period without significance(P>0.05) because of their well known turnover rates. There
DISCUSSION
were no significant correlations between the changes of FFM
Estimation of body composition is important in the assessment
and those of the constitutive plasma proteins. These obligatory
1152 ISSN 1007-9327 CN 14-1219/ R World J Gastroenterol December 15, 2002 Volume 8 Number 6
changes may occur in face of continuing proteolysis and high
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