Deuda calórica en una cohorte de pacientes hospitalizados en unidades de cuidado intensivo

Abstract

The nutritional support offered to critically ill patients is, for most of them, the only means to fulfill their daily nutritional requirements. However, it has been documented that nutritional support is not enough to cover such needs, due to the presence of caloric debt. We seek to determine the caloric debt and its potential to clinical affect critically ill patients that receive nutritional support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We conducted a prospective cohort study with 191 patients. We assessed the magnitude of caloric debt and its related factors. We also explored variations in clinical outcomes related to mortality, infectious complications and ICU stay length. Caloric debt was found in 73.8% (95% CI = 67-80%) of patients who received less than 80% of their daily caloric requirements. Main causes were related to enteral nutrition interruption. We found no association between caloric debt and the evaluated outcomes. This evaluation made it possible to establish that the majority of patients, despite receiving nutritional support, were exposed to caloric debt, and it is necessary to generate care strategies to reduce the patients’ exposure to this condition.