This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Investigations (nutritional status)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

These include:

  • albumin and other plasma proteins such as transferrin
  • 24 hour urinary urea nitrogen excretion: can be combined with measurements of nitrogen intake to estimate the nitrogen balance and the degree of catabolism. This is unreliable in renal or hepatic failure. It is often practically difficult to collect all urine.
  • 24 hour urinary creatinine excretion: gives an estimate of skeletal muscle mass depletion; however, influenced by meat content of diet and renal function.
  • 3-methylhistidine: a byproduct of myofibrillar protein catabolism; urinary excretion is proportional to muscle mass and rate of catabolism.
  • indirect calorimetry to assess energy requirements
  • immunological methods:
    • total lymphocyte count: increased if elevated risk of morbidity and mortality; cellular immunity is affected before humoral immunity; however, underlying clinical condition will also affect nutritional status
    • hypersensitivity skin testing: defective response suggested by some authors as a sensitive means of detecting malnutrition; however, far less practical than simple history and examination.

These indicators are really only any good in combination, and should not be used as a first line in the identification of malnutrition.


Create an account to add page annotations

Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.