Evaluation of enteral nutrition in an intensive care unit

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate the infusion of enteral nutrition in adult patients admitted to an intensive care unit. Method: a descriptive, quantitative and longitudinal study, carried out over four months in a high-complexity public hospital, with patients using enteral nutritional therapy. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed with mean, standard deviation and percentage. Results: enteral nutrition was administered early after admission to the intensive care unit in most of the cases (64%). In 71% of the patients, the infusion volume of enteral nutrition was between 80% and 100% of that prescribed. The factors that most limited the infusion were complications in the use of the feeding tube (14%), hemodynamic and clinical instability (12%), and gastric stasis (12%). Conclusion: the infusion of enteral nutrition proved to be satisfactory and, among the factors that limited the infusion, many are preventable with the improvement of Nursing care, requiring the training of the team.