A randomised controlled comparison of early post-pyloric versus early gastric feeding to meet nutritional targets in ventilated intensive care patients

Table 5 Nutritional data (per protocol analysis)

Variable	No post-pyloric tube Median (IQR) n = 60	Post-pyloric tube Median (IQR) n = 44	P value
Goal feed rate (ml/hour)	74 (66-79)	71.5 (62-81)	0.6
Time to initiate feed from admission or ventilation in hours	5.0 (3.6-9.4)	5.8 (4.1-10.0)	0.25^a
Time to reach goal from initiation of feeds in hours	4.1 (3.8-5.4)	4.1 (3.6-5.3)	0.9
Time to reach goal from admission or ventilation in hours	9.5 (7.6-16.3)	10.5 (8.4-16.1)	0.21^b
Average daily energy deficit in Kcal	79 (2-340)	149 (74-369)	0.11^c
Average daily protein deficit in grams	4.3 (0-16.3)	6.6 (2.9-14.8)	0.23^d

APACHE = Acute Physiologic and Chronic Health Evaluation; IQR = inter-quartile range.
^aP = 0.19;^b0.57;^c0.10; ^d0.15 (after adjustment for age and APACHE II score).

ISSN: 1364-8535