Impact of early enteral nutrition up to goal on the prognosis of patients with different severity of illness in the ICU

Introduction

This study aimed to determine the value of early enteral nutrition up to goal on the prognosis of the patients with different severity of illness in the ICU.

Methods

A total of 192 critically ill patients who met the criteria for enrollment were included in this study during the past 18 months in our ICU. They were divided by grade as the severity of illness according to APACHE II scores. Retrospective analysis on early enteral nutrition checked whether the third day of enteral nutrition supply has reached the 60% nutrition goal (25 kcal/kg/day). So the patients were divided into two groups: up to goal and not up to goal. According to APACHE II scores, the patients were divided into three sub-groups with score inferior to 15, between 15 and 25 and superior to 25.

Results

When the scores of APACHE II were between 15 and 25, the LOS in the ICU (t = 3.966, P = 0.000), in hospital (t = 8.165, P = 0.000), the cost of medical care (t = 4.812, P = 0.000) and the mortality (t = 5.421, P = 0.038) were all significantly lower in patients with EEN up to goal. See Table 1.

Table 1 Comparison of patients with APACHE II scores 15 to 25 in the two groups

Conclusions

The EEN up to goal can significantly increase the survival rate of critically ill patients, shorten the LOS in hospital and reduce the cost of medical care, when the patients have APACHE II scores between 15 and 25. The clinical value of EEN up to goal varies depending on the severity of illness.