← Issue №16/ week of Oct 18, 2026/Nutrition

Catheter-related bloodstream infections, infective endocarditis, and vertebral osteomyelitis in adults receiving home parenteral nutrition: A descriptive cohort study.

From GI Signals issue №16: what this paper found, what it changes, and where it sits against the current standard of care, reviewed by Simon Mathews, MD.

Nutrition prospective cohort · n=323 · Oct 12, 2026 · JPEN · IF 3.2

Catheter-related bloodstream infections, infective endocarditis, and vertebral osteomyelitis in adults receiving home parenteral nutrition: A descriptive cohort study.

New evidenceepidemiologyparenteral nutrition
Clinical takeawayTreat fever in a home parenteral nutrition patient as possible catheter infection with early paired cultures, and look for endocarditis and vertebral osteomyelitis once bacteraemia is confirmed. The higher rate with tunneled cuffed lines than PICCs is descriptive and should not steer long-term patients away from tunneled lines.
What it foundCatheter-related bloodstream infection incidence was 0.93 per 1,000 catheter days, with higher rates for tunneled cuffed central venous access devices (1.10) vs. peripherally inserted central catheters (0.66).
ContextConfirms catheter-related bloodstream infection rates are within guideline-recommended ranges but highlights higher infective endocarditis incidence and similar vertebral osteomyelitis incidence compared to prior studies.
Emergingsuggested applicable standard· ESPEN (European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism), "ESPEN guideline on chronic intestinal failure in adults, Update 2023," Clinical Nutrition, 2023

No single passage of this standard matched the paper closely enough to quote, so none is shown. The standard is cited above.

Our full summary of this standard

Manage short bowel syndrome / intestinal failure with a multidisciplinary IF team using a three-phase nutrition strategy: initiate TPN with IV hydration and electrolyte replacement in the acute hypersecretory phase, progressively advance enteral feeds and wean PN during the 1-2 year adaptation phase, then maintain an oral diet with selective PN as needed. In carefully selected PN-dependent patients, and only when prescribed by clinicians experienced in SBS/IF management (generally once the adaptation phase is complete), consider the GLP-2 analog teduglutide (0.05 mg/kg/day subcutaneously) to promote intestinal adaptation and reduce PN volume, but only after baseline screening to exclude neoplasia and contraindications (colonoscopy with removal of any polyps when colon and/or rectum is present, and assessment for active or recent [within 5 years] gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, or pancreatic malignancy, which contraindicate its use) and with mandatory ongoing safety monitoring (surveillance colonoscopy after 1-2 years then every 5 years, plus vigilance for colorectal/GI polyps and neoplasia, intestinal obstruction, biliary/gallbladder and pancreatic disease, and fluid overload); add antimotility agents (loperamide, then codeine/opium tincture) for high-output stoma, and provide lifelong nutrient surveillance/supplementation (notably B12) plus monitoring for CRBSI, IFALD, oxalate stones, and refeeding syndrome.

ESPEN (European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism), "ESPEN guideline on chronic intestinal failure in adults, Update 2023," Clinical Nutrition, 2023 · reviewed 2026-07-23 ↗
Boltz-Jensen SM … Vinter-Jensen L · JPEN. Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · IF 3.2 · PubMed ↗Permalink
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