ABSTRACT
The concept and implementation of parenteral nutrition (PN) began nearly a century ago. In 1912, Fohn and Denis (1) reported that protein hydrolysis led to gut absorption. These findings fostered the idea that the gut could be bypassed to provide nutrition, and inspired Henriques and Anderson (2), in 1913, to administer hydrolyzed protein intravenously in an animal study. PN was actively investigated following that study. A significant breakthrough occurred in 1925 when Seibert (3) discovered that pyrogens, elicited from bacteria, were responsible for the fever and chills associated with the infusion of intravenous (IV) substances. In 1939, Elman and Weiner (4) reported on the first successful use of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in man. However, TPN did not become widely accepted until 1967 when Dudrick et al. (5) at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrated that normal growth and development could occur solely with the administration of TPN [without any enteral nutrition (EN) at all].
