Enteral and Parenteral Nutritional Support - test

Abstract

Malnutrition among the critically ill is widely prevalent, resulting in impaired ventilator drive, prolonged ventilator dependence, impaired immunologic function, and increased risk of infection. The initiation of early nutrition therapy, specifically enteral nutrition, decreases the early loss of lean mass, provides calories, and improves patients’ immunity and healing, which is critical for improving morbidity and mortality in patients suffering from critical illness. Determining nutritional risk using the Nutrition Risk in Critically Ill (NUTRIC) score; assessing nutritional needs, including protein and calorie needs, with ongoing reassessments; gaining gastrointestinal access for initiating early enteral therapy with a standard polymeric isotonic or near-isotonic 1 to 1.5 kcal/mL formula for surgical critically ill patients within 24 to 48 hours of admission to the intensive care unit; monitoring for gastrointestinal intolerance and complications; and selecting immunonutrition, specifically arginine and omega-3 fatty acids, for the postoperative surgical critical care patient are key strategies in overcoming malnutrition and improving overall morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. This review contains 1 figure, 3 tables, and 52 references. Key words: enteral nutrition, immunonutrition, nutritional assessment, nutritional risk, refeeding syndrome