Title: Enteral Nutrition in Critical Care<br/>Author: Feras Khan<br/><a href='http://umem.org/profiles/faculty/1145/'>[Click to email author]</a><hr/><p>
<strong>Background</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
Artificial nutrition is a staple of critical care</li>
<li>
Patients who are unable to eat, require enteral nutrition (preferred over parental nutrition)</li>
<li>
There are some formulas that are called "immunonutrition" which try to alter the inflammatory response seen in critical illness</li>
<li>
They may contain omega-3 fatty acids and essential amino acids such as arginine or glutamine, and anti-oxidants.</li>
</ul>
<p>
<strong>Data</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
A recent trial (MetaPlus) was designed to see if immunonutrition could decrease the development of infections in the critically ill</li>
<li>
Compared to regular high protein formulas, there was no difference in mortality, duration of ventilation, or hospital length of stay</li>
</ul>
<p>
<strong>What to do</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
Immuno-nutrition formulas cannot be routinely recommended</li>
<li>
Use regular high protein formulas</li>
<li>
Start within 48 hours of identifying a need</li>
</ul>
<p>
</p>
<fieldset><legend>References</legend>
<h1 class="aTitle" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 5px 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 2.4rem; line-height: 1.3; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">
<span id="scm6MainContent_lblArticleTitle" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">High-Protein Enteral Nutrition Enriched With Immune-Modulating Nutrients vs Standard High-Protein Enteral Nutrition and Nosocomial Infections in the ICU</span></h1>
<h1 class="aTitle" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 5px 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 2.4rem; line-height: 1.3; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">
<span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="subTitle" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 20px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline;">A Randomized Clinical Trial</span></span></h1>
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<span class="authorNames" id="scm6MainContent_lblAuthors" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Arthur R. H. van Zanten, MD, PhD<span id="scm6MainContent_rptAuthors_supAuthorAffiliations_0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 9px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 0; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; top: -0.5em;">1</span>; </span></div>
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<span id="scm6MainContent_lblClientName" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">JAMA. </i>2014;312(5):514-524. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.7698.</span></div>
</div>
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</fieldset>