A central goal of The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine is the development of clinical protocols for managing common medical problems that may impact breastfeeding success. These protocols serve only as guidelines for the care of breastfeeding mothers and infants and do not delineate an exclusive course of treatment or serve as standards of medical care. Variations in treatment may be appropriate according to the needs of an individual patient.

More than 80% of mothers express milk at some point during the first 4 months postpartum. Many women rely on breast pumps to establish and maintain lactation particularly when the infant is not able to breastfeed. Proper breast pump fit and use are important to optimize breastmilk supply and prevent injury. As breast pumps continues to evolve and the number of women using them remains a substantial majority, health care professionals need to maintain a thorough understanding of this tool and relevant techniques to help mothers succeed.

Based on this literature search, of all categories of treatment for menstrual migraine, triptans have the most extensive research with strong evidence for both acute and preventive treatment of menstrual migraine. Further randomized controlled trials should be performed for other therapies to strengthen their use in the care of menstrual migraine patients.

This article reviews various methods of assessing and managing post-gastrectomy or esophagectomy patients from a nutritional standpoint, by examining recent research focusing on assessment models, components of enteral feeding, timing of feeding, safety of enteral nutrition (EN) vs total parenteral nutrition (TPN), appetite stimulants, alternative treatments, and long-term care. Pre-, peri-, and post-operative nutrition represent a major prognostic indicator in patients undergoing a gastrectomy or esophagectomy for malignant cancer. An accurate initial nutrition assessment to determine risk, followed by close monitoring pre-operatively and early enteral feeding post-operatively, has been shown to have the most beneficial effects. The optimal delivery route for nutrition involves the use of EN with immune enhancing nutrients while avoiding TPN. In practice, TPN is reserved for patients with post-operative complications that delay enteral feeding for an extended time. While megace is commonly used as an appetite stimulant, the hormone ghrelin is another novel, safe, and efficacious treatment to improve appetite, increase by mouth (PO) intake, and minimize loss of weight and lean body mass. Although use of ghrelin is not yet common practice, as more studies are published, we predict that this will become a more common treatment. While complementary and alternative therapies are commonly employed in this patient population, more research needs to be done before incorporation into our mainstay of treatment. Long term, these patients continue to be at nutritional risk and therefore should be followed to optimize weight maintenance and prevent micronutrient deficiencies.

The Joanna Briggs Institute Evidence-Based Practice Database offers systematic reviews, practice recommendations, and consumer information designed to support evidence-based practice. A sample search was conducted within the Ovid platform to demonstrate functionality and available tools.