Introduction:

Refeeding syndrome (RS) is an acute metabolic disorder that occurs during nutritional repletion. Although it has been known for years, the early detection of risk factors for its onset and the implementation of measures to prevent it are not common in nutritional care.

Case presentation:

48-year-old male patient, in critical care for 6 days, with suspected Wernicke-Korsakoff encephalopathy and high risk of refeeding syndrome according to criteria of the United Kingdom National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence. The subject received enteral nutrition with 14 kcal/kg for the first 3 days, with subsequent increases aiming to achieve a nutritional goal of 25 kcal/kg on day 5. He also received daily supplementation of thiamine 600mg, folic acid 5mg and pyridoxine 50mg. Blood phosphorus decreased from 3 mg/dL to 2 mg/dL the day after initiating the nutritional plan and normalized by day 3.

Discussion:

The patient did not present severe hypophosphatemia or clinical manifestations of refeeding syndrome. Hypophosphatemia was resolved by maintaining a stable caloric restriction during the first days. Some professionals consider this restriction as very conservative, and others think that it may lead to achieve significant improvements in mortality reduction.

Conclusions:

The strategy for assessing the risk of refeeding syndrome, nutritional management and implemented follow-up were successful in preventing the patient from developing a refeeding syndrome.

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