Improvement in the nutritional status of very elderly stroke patients who received long-term complete tube feeding

Long-term complete tube feeding after stroke is effective for improving the nutritional status of very elderly patients. Both in the elderly and in the very elderly patients, most of the biochemical parameters and anthropometric parameters improved. However, the change in albumin levels differed between elderly patients and very elderly patients, probably because albumin levels are influenced by aging. In addition, it was difficult to improve the low serum albumin levels of bedridden elderly patients who exhibited an inflammatory response to within the normal range. Especially, in the very elderly patients, serum albumin levels were hard to reflect improvement of malnutrition.