BACKGROUND: Although early enteral feeding clearly reduces septic morbidity after blunt and penetrating trauma, data for head-injured patients are conflicting. This study examines the effects of early vs delayed enteral feedings on outcome in patients with severe closed-head injuries with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score greater than 3 and less than 11. METHODS:Thirty patients were prospectively randomized to receive an immune-enhancing diet (Impact with fiber) early (initiated < 72 hours after trauma) delivered via an endoscopically placed nasoenteric tube (Stay-Put) or late (administered after gastric ileus resolved). This formula was continued for 14 days or until the patient tolerated oral feeding. Goal rate of nutrition was 21 nonprotein cal/kg/d and 0.3 g N/kg/d. RESULTS: Two patients in the early group were excluded due to inability to place the tube, and one patient in the late group died before 72 hours. Five of the remaining 27 died, 1 in the early group and 4 in the late group. There were no significant differences between the groups in length of stay, intensive care unit (ICU) days, significant infection, or GCS score. However, major infection correlated inversely with admission GCS score (R = -0.6, p < .003). Time to reach a GCS score of 14 was significantly longer in patients with significant infections compared with those without (p < .02). CONCLUSIONS: No difference in length of stay or infectious complications is shown in patients with severe closed-head injury when they are given early vs delayed feeding using an immune-enhancing formula. Severity of the head injury is closely associated with significant infection.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Although early enteral feeding clearly reduces septic morbidity after blunt and penetrating trauma, data for head-injured patients are conflicting. This study examines the effects of early vs delayed enteral feedings on outcome in patients with severe closed-head injuries with a Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score greater than 3 and less than 11. METHODS: Thirty patients were prospectively randomized to receive an immune-enhancing diet (Impact with fiber) early (initiated < 72 hours after trauma) delivered via an endoscopically placed nasoenteric tube (Stay-Put) or late (administered after gastric ileus resolved). This formula was continued for 14 days or until the patient tolerated oral feeding. Goal rate of nutrition was 21 nonprotein cal/kg/d and 0.3 g N/kg/d. RESULTS: Two patients in the early group were excluded due to inability to place the tube, and one patient in the late group died before 72 hours. Five of the remaining 27 died, 1 in the early group and 4 in the late group. There were no significant differences between the groups in length of stay, intensive care unit (ICU) days, significant infection, or GCS score. However, major infection correlated inversely with admission GCS score (R = -0.6, p < .003). Time to reach a GCS score of 14 was significantly longer in patients with significant infections compared with those without (p < .02). CONCLUSIONS: No difference in length of stay or infectious complications is shown in patients with severe closed-head injury when they are given early vs delayed feeding using an immune-enhancing formula. Severity of the head injury is closely associated with significant infection.
Authors: Andrew Rhodes; Laura E Evans; Waleed Alhazzani; Mitchell M Levy; Massimo Antonelli; Ricard Ferrer; Anand Kumar; Jonathan E Sevransky; Charles L Sprung; Mark E Nunnally; Bram Rochwerg; Gordon D Rubenfeld; Derek C Angus; Djillali Annane; Richard J Beale; Geoffrey J Bellinghan; Gordon R Bernard; Jean-Daniel Chiche; Craig Coopersmith; Daniel P De Backer; Craig J French; Seitaro Fujishima; Herwig Gerlach; Jorge Luis Hidalgo; Steven M Hollenberg; Alan E Jones; Dilip R Karnad; Ruth M Kleinpell; Younsuk Koh; Thiago Costa Lisboa; Flavia R Machado; John J Marini; John C Marshall; John E Mazuski; Lauralyn A McIntyre; Anthony S McLean; Sangeeta Mehta; Rui P Moreno; John Myburgh; Paolo Navalesi; Osamu Nishida; Tiffany M Osborn; Anders Perner; Colleen M Plunkett; Marco Ranieri; Christa A Schorr; Maureen A Seckel; Christopher W Seymour; Lisa Shieh; Khalid A Shukri; Steven Q Simpson; Mervyn Singer; B Taylor Thompson; Sean R Townsend; Thomas Van der Poll; Jean-Louis Vincent; W Joost Wiersinga; Janice L Zimmerman; R Phillip Dellinger Journal: Intensive Care Med Date: 2017-01-18 Impact factor: 17.440
Authors: Rabail Chaudhry; Sachin Batra; Omar L Mancillas; Robert Wegner; Navneet Grewal; George W Williams Journal: Neurocrit Care Date: 2017-04 Impact factor: 3.210
Authors: Gordon S Doig; Philippa T Heighes; Fiona Simpson; Elizabeth A Sweetman; Andrew R Davies Journal: Intensive Care Med Date: 2009-09-24 Impact factor: 17.440