Investigating the efficacy of nutrition therapy for outpatients with inflammatory bowel disease

Introduction: Inflammatory bowel diseases can cause malnutrition (due to inflammatory cytokine production, catabolic states after surgery, restricted diet), which is difficult to treat by nutritional therapy. Aim: Investigating the efficacy of nutrition therapy. Method: Combined malnutrition risk screening (questionnaires and body composition analysis), at the beginning of the research and after a 1 year period. Results: 205 patients were screened, 82 were malnourished. A total of 44 received nutritional intervention for 1 year, for 45% dietary management was satisfactory, 50% needed oral nutritional supplements and 5% received home parenteral nutrition. These interventions reduced the number of patients considered by both measuring methods in high risk from 31 to 21, increased the body weight and fat-free mass in 8 and 9 cases significantly (i.e., with more than 10%), and improved the indices as well (Delta BMI: + 1.3 kg/m(2), p = 0.035 s., Delta FFMI: + 0.5 kg/m(2), p = 0.296 n.s.). The main limitations of our research are the relatively low number of cases and the mono-centric involvement. Conclusions: We recommend combined malnutrition risk screening for all patients with inflammatory bowel disease due to the high risk of malnutrition, and follow-up of the malnourished patients to monitor the efficacy of their nutrition therapy.