Lecture Summary

This lecture provides a basic outline of ICU nutrition and the current state of evidence. Despite recommendations, only approximately half of the predicted calorie and protein requirements are provided to critically ill patients. Enteral nutrition is the preferred mode of nutrition, and with the exception of one trial, parenteral nutrition has not been associated with adverse outcomes compared to enteral nutrition although it is likely more expensive. Despite nutrition being an accepted standard of care internationally, there is a lack of randomized controlled trials to show benefit with nutrition delivery in critical illness. An understanding of the quality and limitations of the current evidence base that inform clinical practice guidelines is essential when applying this to an individual setting. Nutrition across hospitalistion is likely to be important but not an area where much focus has been paid. Data that does exists show that patients that eat orally do worse than those who receive artificial nutrition and intake on the ward is below predicted requirements. Recommendations for improving knowledge and putting recommendations into practice are also provided as part of this lecture.

Target Audience

Critical Care Doctors
Critical Care Nurses

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion of this activity, you should be able to:

• Understand the differences in clinical practice recommendations across guidelines for critical care nutrition
• Describe the issues with nutrition delivery within ICU AND in the post-ICU period
• Gain an understanding of key resources to increase knowledge and assist in understanding of how to translate recommendation into an individual setting

None.