The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effects of peripheral parenteral nutrition (PNN) in a homogeneous group of patients who had not had surgery, and to determine whether the deterioration of the nutritional state can be avoided while keeping the advantages of the administration of a peripheral route. We have included 7 patients (4 male and 3 female) with an acute episode of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Each received 1780 kcal/day (1500 non-protein kcal 66% as fats, and 33% as glucose), with a kcal/g of N ratio of 160 by means of the preparation technique of "all in one". The anthropometric parameters: initial and final weight (58.5 +/- 12 vs. 57.3 +/- 11); triceps skin fold (14.1 +/- 4 vs. 14.1 +/- 4), and mean circumference of the arm (25.1 +/- 3 vs. 25.0 +/- 3), did not give any significant differences during the treatment period. In the biochemical data there were no significant differences either, except for the final level of serum albumin (3.44 +/- 0.28), which was significantly higher than the initial value (3.11 +/- 0.38) (p < 0.05). The mean duration of the treatment was 12 days (range 6-18). There was no case of phlebitis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)