Enteral nutrition administration in a surgical intensive care unit:Achieving goals with better strategies

AIM: To evaluate the impact of an enteral feeding protocol on administration of nutrition to surgical intensive care unit(SICU) patients.METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted on patients initiated on enteral nutrition(EN) support during their stay in a 14 bed SICU. Data collected over a seven-day period included date of tube feed initiation, rate initiated, subsequent hourly rates, volume provided daily, and the nature and length of interruptions. The six months prior to implementation of the feeding protocol(pre-intervention) and six months after implementation(post-intervention) were compared. One hundred and four patients met criteria for inclusion; 53 were preintervention and 51 post-intervention.RESULTS: Of the 624 patients who received nutrition support during the review period, 104 met the criteria for inclusion in the study. Of the 104 patients who met criteria outlined for inclusion, 64 reached the calculated goal rate(pre = 28 and post = 36). The median time to achieve the goal rate was significantly shorter in the post-intervention phase(3 d vs 6 d; P = 0.01). The time to achieve the total recommended daily volume showeda non-significant decline in the post-intervention phase(P = 0.24) and the overall volume administered daily was higher in the post-intervention phase(61.6% vs 53.5%; P = 0.07). While the overall interruptions data did not reach statistical significance, undocumented interruptions(interruptions for unknown reasons) were lower in the post-intervention phase(pre = 23/124, post = 9/96; P = 0.06).CONCLUSION: A protocol delineating the initiation and advancement of EN support coupled with ongoing education can improve administration of nutrition to SICU patients.

Critical care management and intensive care unit outcomes following cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy

AIM To study the early postoperative intensive care unit(ICU) management and complications in the first 2 wk of patients undergoing cytoreductive surgery(CRS) and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy(HIPEC).METHODS Our study is a retrospective, observational study per-formed at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, quaternary care hospital in New York City. All adult patients who underwent CRS and HIPEC between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2012 and admitted to ICU postoperatively were studied. Fifty-one patients came to the ICU postoperatively out of 170 who underwent CRS and HIPEC therapy during the study period. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics.RESULTS Of the 170 patients who underwent CRS and HIPEC therapy, 51(30%) came to the ICU postoperatively. Mean ICU length of stay was 4 d(range 1-60 d) and mean APACHE Ⅱ score was 15(range 7-23). Thirtyone/fifty-one(62%) patients developed postoperative complications. Aggressive intraoperative and postoperative fluid resuscitation is required in most patients. Hypovolemia was seen in all patients and median amount of fluids required in the first 48 h was 6 L(range 1-14 L). Thirteen patients(25%) developed postoperative hypotension with seven requiring vasopressor support. The major cause of sepsis was intraabdominal, with 8(15%) developing anastomotic leaks and 5(10%) developing intraabdominal abscess. The median survival was 14 mo with 30 d mortality of 4%(2/51) and 90 d mortality of 16%(8/51). One year survival was 56.4%(28/51). Preoperative medical co morbidities, extent of surgical debulking, intraoperative blood losses, amount of intra op blood products required and total operative time are the factors to be considered while deciding ICU vs non ICU admission.CONCLUSION Overall, ICU outcomes of this study population are excellent. Triage of these patients should consider preoperative and intraoperative factors. Intensivists should be vigilant to aggressive postop fluid resuscitation, pain control and early detection and management of surgical complications.