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Clinical Nutrition

Nutritional management in patients with chyle leakage: a systematic review

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, pages 776–780 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

To investigate all the available evidence assessing the effect of nutrition intervention on patients with chyle leakage and its effectiveness at reducing the need for surgical intervention.

Subjects/Methods:

A systematic review was undertaken of all English language studies using MEDLINE, Cinahl and Web of Science from January 1980 to September 2013. Case series were included because of limited available evidence. Exclusion criteria included animal studies, pediatrics and studies without nutritional intervention. Assessment of study quality was included. Because of the heterogeneity of the data, no meta-analysis was performed.

Results:

Thirty-one articles were identified for analysis, all of which were retrospective case series studies. The data within these studies were greatly limited. A total of 550 subjects were identified from these studies, 72% of whom had a chyle leak successfully resolved without surgical intervention. However, there was no significant difference between the type of dietary intervention and the rate of resolution (χ2=11.14, P=0.08).

Conclusions:

Although there is evidence to suggest that nutrition may have a role in the management of patients with chyle leakage, it is not possible to determine which dietary methods are most effective. More research is required before any guidelines for best practice can be established.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Clinical Nutrition, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    B R Steven & S Carey

  2. Nutrition and Dietetics Department, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    S Carey

Authors
  1. B R Steven
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  2. S Carey
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Correspondence to S Carey.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Author Contributions

All authors have contributed to the paper. BRS refined the methodology, conducted the systematic review, analyzed the results and drafted the manuscript. CS designed the research, refined the systematic review, reviewed the results and was involved in the manuscript preparation.

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Steven, B., Carey, S. Nutritional management in patients with chyle leakage: a systematic review. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 776–780 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2015.48

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