Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
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Cardiovascular disease is a common preexisting condition among hospitalized patients. Acute myocardial infarction and cardiac surgery account for 2 of the most common reasons patients are admitted to the intensive care unit. Determining how and when to feed these patients is a constant challenge presented to nutrition support practitioners. ⋯ However, obstacles such as upper gastrointestinal intolerance, hypoperfusion vasopressor support, and glycemic control make the task of initiating feeds a challenge. Once a patient has successfully tolerated feeds, the nutrition support clinician must still determine how much to feed and if specialty formulas such as those containing omega-3 fatty acids are beneficial for their patient. The purpose of this review is to present recent research on the feeding challenges in the critical care population with a focus on the cardiothoracic population and an emphasis on improving patient outcomes.
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The primary purpose of this study was to compare the measured resting energy requirements (MREE) of children with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) or toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) with that of children with burns of similar size. A secondary goal was to develop a predictive equation useful in estimating the energy of children with SJS/TEN. ⋯ The energy requirement in pediatric SJS/TEN patients is less than that following burn injury. The application of a 30% factor to MREE is supported in SJS/TEN and thermal injury.
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The obesity epidemic is a major public health problem worldwide. Adult obesity is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Measurement of abdominal obesity is strongly associated with increased cardiometabolic risk, cardiovascular events, and mortality. ⋯ For example, Asians have increased cardiometabolic risk at lower body mass indexes and with lower waist circumferences than other populations. One criterion for the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome, according to different study groups, includes measurement of abdominal obesity (waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio) because visceral adipose tissue is a key component of the syndrome. The waist circumference measurement is a simple tool that should be widely implemented in clinical practice to improve cardiometabolic risk stratification.
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Insulin resistance is common and often multifactorial in acutely critically ill patients. At our institution, glycemic control is achieved in these patients using an intravenous insulin protocol. The authors present a case in which a patient developed severe insulin resistance following surgical repair of a thoracic aorta aneurysm. ⋯ After the administration of intravenous chromium at 3 microg/h, the blood sugar normalized and insulin therapy was discontinued. This case represents a unique approach using intravenous chromium to achieve glycemic control in a patient with extreme insulin resistance and acute critical illness. Prospective clinical trials using intravenous chromium may provide the means to optimize intensive insulin therapy for critically ill patients.
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Misplacement of nasoenteric feeding tubes (NFTs) into the airway instead of the esophagus leads to complications. Healthcare providers have relied on clinical methods, devices such as carbon dioxide (CO(2)) sensors, and radiography (the gold standard) to evaluate NFT placements. Most institutions include radiographs in their protocols for NFT insertions, making it expensive and cumbersome. A new commercial CO(2) sensor was developed to assist in these procedures, and the authors evaluated its use. ⋯ The CO(2) sensor is a helpful bedside tool to use in conjunction with clinical methods during NFT insertions. However, there is insufficient evidence to abandon the use of radiographs to confirm tube placement.