A case of a patient with bile secretion disorder for whom an egg yolk lecithin-containing liquid diet was used for enteral nutrition

For elderly people who are difficult to operate, percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD) is conducted instead. In PTGBD, the bile is drained externally and impaired absorption of fat is a concern. Egg yolk lecithin, which is a fat emulsifier, is not easily broken in emulsion even under a low-pH condition, and the emulsified state is stable. Even in bile duct ligation rats, the emulsifier in egg yolk lecithin emulsion is reported to be superior to lipid absorption using other emulsifiers. Emulsification with egg yolk lecithin may possibly contribute to improvement of nutrition during biliary excretion disorders such as external drainage. We report a case of good progress with enteral nutrition with egg yolk lecithin-mixed liquid diet after PTGBD for acute cholecystitis. The patient was an 80-year-old man with a history of myocardial infarction and dementia. He was diagnosed with calculous cholecystitis, and conservative treatment was started. His cholecystitis was exacerbated, and PTGBD was performed on day 12 of the disease. On imaging, the lower extremities of the duodenum were edematous because of the spread of inflammation. Glutamine preparation alone was administered after resuming fasting. A liquid diet containing egg yolk lecithin, 200 ml of K-LEC (1 kcal/ml), was started from day 23, and was administered three times daily. Liquid diet dose was increased to 1,200 kcal/day with added dietary fiber on day 29. The patient's overall condition improved, and transthyretin level and body weight increased. Thereafter, after swallowing training, the patient was switched to oral meal intake from day 37.