Effects of early versus late enteral nutrition on the nutritional status of surgical intensive care unit patients: A retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVES

We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy and safety of early enteral nutrition (within 48 h) and late enteral nutrition (after 48 h; control) in improving the nutritional status of surgical intensive care unit patients.

METHODS AND STUDY

DESIGN

This single-center, retrospective, observational study was conducted using data from 82 patients (age > 18 years) who were admitted to surgical intensive care units between June and November 2019. Patients who received enteral nutrition for >7 days were included in this study, and those who received total parenteral nutrition or palliative care were excluded.

RESULTS

The early and late enteral nutrition groups comprised 41 patients each. Early enteral nutrition significantly increased the actual intake of calories and protein (p < 0.0001) as well as the length of stay in the surgical in-tensive care unit (p = 0.047) and hospital (p = 0.028). Late enteral nutrition significantly reduced albumin concentration (p < 0.05), hemoglobin concentration (p < 0.05), and lymphocyte count (p < 0.05) but significantly increased weight loss (p < 0.05). However, no significant between-group difference was observed in mortality rate.

CONCLUSIONS

Early enteral nutrition improves the nutritional status of surgical intensive care unit patients. It shortens overall hospitalization duration and increases actual calorie and protein intake at dis-charge. Thus, early enteral nutrition is recommended for critically ill patients.