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The Use of Serum Albumin as a Prognostic or Nutritional Marker and The Pros and Cons of IV Albumin Therapy
Author(s) -
Vanek Vincent W.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
nutrition in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1941-2452
pISSN - 0884-5336
DOI - 10.1002/j.1941-2452.1998.tb03058.x
Subject(s) - medicine , albumin , cons , serum albumin , gastroenterology , intensive care medicine , diarrhea , computer science , programming language
Serum albumin is a poor nutritional marker, but it is a good prognostic marker correlating with morbidity and mortality. However, IV albumin administration in hypoalbuminemic patients does not decrease tube feeding‐associated diarrhea or intolerance, nor does it improve clinical outcome, so it is not cost‐effective. In selected situations, colloid solutions may be helpful; however, nonprotein colloids are preferred and rarely is IV albumin indicated.