Feeding the critically ill patient

Area of Science:

• Critical care medicine
• Clinical nutrition

Background:

• Critically ill patients often cannot meet metabolic demands through volitional intake.
• Nutritional support is a critical component of medical care for these patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and interpret current data on specialized nutrition therapy in critically ill patients.
• To focus on recently published studies and provide recommendations.

Main Methods:

• Literature searches including published and unpublished studies (observational and RCTs).
• Consultation with critical care nutrition experts.
• Consensus-based evidence summarization.

Main Results:

• Enteral nutrition, initiated early, may have therapeutic roles beyond providing calories and protein.
• Significant advancements in knowledge have been made, but standardization is lacking.
• Recommendations for nutritional care are provided.

Conclusions:

• Early enteral nutrition shows therapeutic potential in critically ill patients.
• Nutrition therapy requires institutional adaptation for optimal evidence-based care.
• Further standardization is needed to match other critical care areas.