 There is an increasing need for hospitals to do quality-assurance studies for in-patient parenteral nutrition PN to assess indications, PN prescription, complications, clinical outcomes and costs. The only in-patient population that is well studied is the intensive care unit ICU population. Several meta-analyses showed that PN was associated with higher infection rate, longer length of stay and higher mortality when compared with enteral nutrition. Results from these and other studies were the basis for the Canadian ICU Guidelines. 