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EDITORIALS: Simon Finfer, Rinaldo Bellomo, John Myburgh, and Robyn Norton Efficacy of albumin in critically ill patients BMJ 2003; 326: 559-560 [Full text]

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Albumin and Nutrition

Kamal Kumar Mahawar   (15 March 2003)

Relevance in the trauma population?

ULISES TORRES, Stephen Becker, MD Director Trauma Surgery   (6 June 2005)

Albumin and Nutrition 15 March 2003
Kamal Kumar Mahawar, Senior House Officer Caithness General Hospital, Wick KW1 5NS Send response to journal: Re: Albumin and Nutrition	It would really be interesting to know the results of this trial.The use of albumin solution as a colloid solution for resuscitation purposes is understandable. I would however like to use this oppurtunity to reemphasize that albumin solution is meant only to be used as a colloid solution and is not a nutritional supplement. There is no rationale behind using albumin in patients with protein calorie malnutrition. It has no nutritional properties and the amino acids or nitrogen in albumin is not assimilated in body. Competing interests:   None declared
Relevance in the trauma population? 6 June 2005
ULISES TORRES, Trauma Surgery Resident Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune NJ, USA 07753, Stephen Becker, MD Director Trauma Surgery Send response to journal: Re: Relevance in the trauma population?	One of the limitations of this study which concerns to us is the lack of specific description of the type of patients selected to be in the trial. The importance of this is that the physiology of the trauma patient similates the physiology of the brain injury patient and the cardiac patient as well. We question the relevance of your conclusions in the trauma population specifically. Is it possible to gather information about how many of those 6997 patients were trauma patients and if possible, are the results equivalent? Competing interests: None declared