Amino Acids in Pediatric Parenteral Nutrition

The history of parenteral nutrition has been reviewed recently by several investigators.1-4Thus, my summary will be brief and draw heavily on those reviews. HISTORY To my knowledge, the first recorded intravenous (IV) infusion occurred as early as 1656 when Sir Christopher Wren injected solutions of "nutrients" and drugs into dogs. For this purpose, he used a goose quill attached to a pig's bladder and infused solutions containing ale, opium, and wine.5Soon afterward, Major6and Lower and King7infused solutions and carried out blood transfusions in animals. In 1667, Denis8transfused blood from a lamb into a human. These latter experiments might be considered the first use of infusions that provided an amino acid source. Since nothing was known about microorganisms, sterility, immunologic incompatibility, osmolality, or pyrogens, it is not surprising that a large number of complications and deaths resulted. Technical improvements followed, and