Adequate surgical nutrition is critically important in recovering from injury or illness. When calculating the energy yield from nutritional substances, the following caloric determinants are used:
Fat – 9 kcal/gm
Protein – 4 kcal/gm
Carbohydrate – 3.4 kcal/gm
The goal in any nutritional therapy is to provide sufficient calories in fat and carbohydrate to prevent protein breakdown.