What is Parenteral Nutrition?
Parenteral nutrition (PN) is a liquid nutrition given through a feeding line called a catheter. It's a way of feeding you directly into the blood stream via a large vein (intravenously). This provides nutrition and fluids when you are unable to eat/drink enough normally to maintain your own nutrition and hydration, or when you are not able to absorb enough nutrition from what you eat.
The solution you are given contains a mixture of nutrients such as glucose, fat and protein. It also provides you with vitamins, minerals and salts such as sodium and potassium to help keep the body functioning.
Parenteral Nutrition can be given as a short term solution to those who are in hospital and waiting on procedures to allow them to have nutrition and fluids normally or longer term at home. When given at home it is called home parenteral nutrition (HPN) or home parenteral support (HPS). You may hear the saying "TPN". This means total parenteral nutrition and is a term used to describe when all the nutrition you are getting is from your PN and not from anything you may eat.