The Time for Parenteral Nutrition is Now: 12 Months Caring for Patients with Severe COVID-19

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought new challenges to adequate nutrition, especially in critically ill patients. Physicians caring for these patients face great difficulties, including a different pathophysiology compared with other diseases, inadequately trained personnel, pressure from the media and family members, logistical and economic obstacles, and lack of robust medical evidence. Although the literature on COVID-19 is still limited, evidence demonstrates the need to reevaluate the use of effective nutritional support in this unprecedented, challenging clinical context. Supplemental parenteral nutrition must be considered due to the energy expenditure from COVID-19, the difficulty in achieving protein and energy goals in patients under enteral nutrition in prone position, and the worsened gastroparesis related to high doses of sedative/neuromuscular blocking agents.