Delayed enteral feeding impairs intestinal carbohydrate absorption in critically ill patient.
When trying to decide when to initiate enteral nutrition in our critically ill patients who are on mechanical ventilation, there is not a great amount of data. Should we start on day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5... on and on. This study shows us that we should definitely NOT wait until day 4 to get started. Although these was no difference in mortality, the authors were able to see an increase in days of mechanical ventilation as well as a prolonged ICU length of stay in the patients who received enteral nutrition on day 4 as opposed to day 1. The authors hypothesized that not feeding the patients when they were ill creates intestinal atrophy and ulceration, therefore leading to disruptions of the intestinal tract that proved harmful to patients. The patient population of this study, 28 patients, was small but it provides some insight as to what we should be doing. The next questions should be "start at day 1 vs day 2" or "start at day 1 vs day 3"? We do not know those answers yet.
A 🎩 tip to the authors!
- EJ
Nguyen, N. Q., Besanko, L. K., Burgstad, C., Bellon, M., Holloway, R. H., Chapman, M., … Fraser, R. J. L. (2012). Delayed enteral feeding impairs intestinal carbohydrate absorption in critically ill patients*. Critical Care Medicine, 40(1), 50–54.
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