Enteral Nutrition in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Background: Occurrence of malnutrition in critically ill children is associated with higher morbidity and mortality. Critically ill children have to face various challenges to meet adequate energy needs. It is important to identify patients who are already malnourished or might become so during their illness by appropriate nutritional assessment. The main purpose of this review article is to discuss various aspects of enteral nutrition in the pediatric intensive care units. Methods: A literature search was conducted in the PubMed database using word combinations of controlled vocabulary (MeSH terms):‘enteral nutrition’ and ‘critical illnesses’. The methodology used for literature retrieval has been discussed in details in the main text. Results: To reach an optimal nutrition, target caloric and protein requirement should be calculated by indirect calorimetry (ideally) or by standard formulae (like Schofield or WHO equations). Nutrition (in critically ill children) should preferably be provided in the form of enteral nutrition as early as possible (if there are no contraindications). It is vital to know the indicators of feed intolerance and side effects/complications of enteral feeding. Feed interruptions are very frequently encountered in the pediatric intensive care units with most of them being (actually) avoidable interruptions. Conclusions: All the available local data should be put together to develop locally-suited algorithms to initiate Indian Journal of Trauma and Emergency Pediatrics Volume 13 Number 2-3/April-September 2021 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ijtep.2348.9987.132-321.2 Authors Affiliation 1Ex-Assistant Professor, 2Professor (Additional), Department of Pediatrics, Seth G S Medical College & KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai 400012, Maharashtra, India. Corresponding AuthorAffiliation Milind S Tullu, Professor (Additional), Seth G S Medical College & KEM Hospital, Parel, Mumbai 400012, Maharashtra, India. Email: milindtullu@yahoo.com How to cite this article: Shagun J Shah, Milind S Tullu/Enteral Nutrition in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit/Indian J Trauma Emerg Pediatr.2021;13(2- 3):49-58. Shagun J Shah1, Milind S Tullu2 and maintain enteral feeding which should be implemented strictly by a multidisciplinary nutrition support team.