Annals of surgery
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Recent animal studies indicate that immediate enteral feeding may be beneficial in patients with major burns. Yet, largely because of the fear of complications, immediate enteral feeding is not commonly performed in patients with major burns until after the resuscitation period. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of immediate enteral tube feedings in patients with burns larger than 20% of their body surface area. ⋯ Vomiting was the major complication observed and occurred 21 times in 16 patients during the 745 study days (2.8% daily incidence). The mean number of calories absorbed enterally increased daily and met the patient's calculated resting energy expenditure (REE) on day 3 after burn (99% +/- 7% REE). The results of this study indicate that immediate enteral feeding is a safe and effective method of delivering nutritional support to burn victims with major burns.