Critical deficiencies of energy and protein with a high provision of non-nutritional calories after one week in an intensive care unit

Abstract

Introduction: nutritional therapy is essential for the treatment of critically ill patients, although its right application fails frequently, which increases the risk for undernutrition and complications. Objective: to evaluate the nutritional adequacy of patients with enteral nutritional support in an intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: a cohort study was conducted including adults admitted to the ICU with enteral support and stay ≥ 7 days. Demographic data, severity of the disease, and clinical and nutritional scores, including IL-6 levels and body composition, were evaluated at admission. Nutritional intake was recorded daily in relation to the target intake according to international guidelines, for calculation of caloric and protein deficiencies. Results: in all, 26 from 132 admitted patients were included. Their probability of mortality was 20-25 % due to disease severity by APACHE (16.6 ± 6.02) and SOFA (8 ± 4.4). Undernutrition risk was 5.6 ± 1.09 by NRS-2002 and 4.3 ± 1.2 by angle phase. Caloric deficiency was-674 kcal/day, with 13 % proteins (28 ± 11.5 g/d) and 42 % lipids, including 17.5 % of non-nutrient calories from propofol. NUTRIC was signifi-cantly associated with percentages of the caloric prescription at days 3 and 7 (R2 = 0.21, p = 0.01). Conclusion: patients had a caloric/protein deficit with critical protein deficit of-85.2 g/day, and an inadequate proportion between protein calories and non-protein calories, increasing their risk of complications.