Adequate nutritional support in critically ill patients is important, however, sometimes it has been neglected in perioperative period of patients at surgical intensive care units (SICU). The aim of this study was to investigate whether approaching target calorie intake of surgical patients influences on their clinical outcomes. A total of 279 patients who admitted at SICU in perioperative period from August 2014 to July 2016 at our hospital were analyzed. Demographics, supplied calorie amount and its method, lengths of SICU and hospital stay, and mortality of study population were collected. Among 279 patients, 103 patietns (36.9%) approached target calorie intake during SICU stay. Patients who approached target calorie intake had significantly decreased length of stay in SICU (10.78 ± 11.5 vs. 15.3 ± 9.9, p = 0.001) and hospital (54.52 ± 40.6 vs. 77.72±62.2, p < 0.001), than those did not, however there was no significant difference of mortality (9.7% vs. 8.5%, p = 0.829). Enteral feeding was a significant factor for target calorie achievement (odd ratio [OR], 2.029; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.096–3.758; p = 0.024) and especially in patients with ≤ 7 days of SICU stay (OR, 4.13; 95% CI, 1.505–11.328; p = 0.006). Target calorie achievement in surgical patients improves clinical outcomes and enteral feeding, especially in early postoperative period would be an effective route of nutrition.
Citations
Preeclampsia (PE) is one of the major disorders in pregnancy leading to many adverse maternal outcomes. Although the etiology of PE is not fully understood, resent studies suggest that an imbalance between free radicals production and the antioxidant defense system might have key role. Our aim of the current study was to evaluate the association between dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC), serum TAC and risk of PE in women with preeclampsia and normal pregnancy. This case-control study conducted on 55 women with preeclampsia and 93 with normal pregnancy. Dietary intakes were obtained by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) with 168 itmes. Dietary TAC was assessed according to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Database for oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), Release 2. Serum TAC was measured by a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunesorbent assay (ELISA). After adjusting for energy, pre-pregnant body mass index (BMI) and history of PE, no relationship was found between intake of hydrophilic-ORAC (H-ORAC), lipophilic-ORAC (L-ORAC), total phenolics (TP), total-ORAC (T-ORAC), and PE risk. However, serum TAC had a significant positive relationship with the risk of PE after adjusting for energy (odds ratio [OR], 0.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16–0.35), BMI and history of PE (OR, 0.04; 95% CI, 0.01–0.32). Findings of this study indicate that serum TAC is positively associated with the risk of PE but no association was found between intake of antioxidant indices and PE risk.
Citations
Although parenteral nutrition (PN) is an important treatment for patients who are unable to tolerate enteral nutrition (EN), recent international guidelines recommended that PN should be reserved and initiated only after 7 days in well-nourished patients. This retrospective study was conducted to analyze the effect on clinical outcomes of a PN protocol with PN starting 4 days after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Eighty-one patients who were admitted from January to March of 2012 were included in the pre-protocol group, and 74 patients who were admitted from April to June of 2012 were included in the post-protocol group. There were no significant differences between the two groups when the age, gender, and admission Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scores were compared. Significantly fewer patients in the post-protocol group were provided PN (58.1% vs. 81.3%, p = 0.002), which was initiated significantly later than in the pre-protocol group (2.7 ± 2.2 days vs. 1.9 ± 2.0 days, p = 0.046). Five patients (6.2%) in the pre-protocol group acquired central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLA-BSI) in the ICU, yet none of the patients in the post-protocol group developed CLA-BSI (p = 0.03). The duration of antibiotic therapy and ICU stay were significantly shorter in the post-protocol group than in the pre-protocol group. By delaying initiation of PN, short-term clinical outcomes including incidence of CLA-BSI, antibiotic use, and ICU stay might be improved. Further research should be conducted to investigate the long-term effects of the decreased nutrient intake resulting from delayed PN.
Citations