• Karolien Dams, Denis Glorieux, Eric Gilbert, Nicolas Serck, Xavier Wittebole, Patrick Druwé, Marc Simon, Elisabeth De Waele, and Jean-Charles Preiser.
• Intensive Care Department, Antwerp University Hospital, 2650 Edegem, Belgium; Laboratory of Experimental Medicine and Paediatrics (LEMP), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: karolien.dams@uza.be.
• J Crit Care. 2025 Jan 31; 87: 155030155030.

Background & AimsMedical nutrition therapy (MNT) is fundamental for ICU patients. This post-hoc subgroup analysis of the prospective observational EuroPN survey aimed to assess MNT in the participating Belgian ICUs.MethodsMNT practices in 9 Belgian ICUs (148 patients) were compared to 77 ICUs (1172 patients) from 11 European countries during the first 15 days for patients staying ≥5 days in ICU - and with the 2019 ESPEN guideline on clinical nutrition in ICU (<70 % of estimated energy expenditure in week 1 and up to 1.3 g/kg/d protein). Additionally, overfeeding was evaluated in the Belgian cohort.ResultsThe Belgian cohort had longer median ICU and hospital length of stay, higher emergency room admission rates and delayed MNT initiation compared to overall (EN: day 2.5 [2.0;4.0] vs 2.0 [2.0;4.0] and PN: day 5.0 [3.0,7.0] vs 2.0 [2.0,4.0]). They received more often EN than PN. In week 1 overfeeding was on average present in 30 % (energy) and 15 % (protein) of observation days.ConclusionSimilar to overall, the Belgian subgroup received a daily average moderate caloric and low protein intake. The gradual intake increase aligned with ESPEN guidelines, though temporary overfeeding occurred in about one third of the patients.Copyright © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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