Ivan Majeský, Martin Huťan, Patrik Koudelka, Ján Škultéty
The main goal of surgery is to achieve the most possible curative effect of the therapy for pathological conditions. Despite of that, a substantial part of surgical treatment represents palliative therapy. Nowadays in both cases nutritional support is considered as a substantial part of complex management of a surgical patient. To implicate nutritional support in clinical praxis lege artis, it is essential to understand basic pathophysiological processes, to be able to evaluate nutritional conditions of a patient, to identify risk groups, to set timing, type, duration and composition of nutritional support correctly including assessment of possible risk and complications. Authors try to bring a review of nutritional problems with respect to some specific issues of patients undergoing surgical therapy.