Aust Crit Care
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Gastric residual volumes in critically ill paediatric patients: a comparison of feeding regimens.
This study examined the effect of gastric feeding regimens, either continuous or intermittent, on fourth hourly gastric residual volumes (GRV) in a group of critically ill paediatric patients where delayed gastric emptying is defined as a GRV greater than 5ml/kg. A randomised controlled trial was conducted in a tertiary paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), with 45 participants being randomly assigned to either the continuous (n=22) or intermittent (n=23) gastric feeding groups. Participants remained in the assigned group for the duration of the study and, fourth hourly, GRV were assessed to monitor the incidence of delayed gastric emptying. ⋯ The provision of enteral nutrition via the gastric route is a common treatment in the PICU, and GRV are frequently used as a measure of gastric tolerance. The result of this analysis provides some support for the theoretical definition of delayed gastric emptying being >5ml/kg. However, further work is required to confirm this finding and to determine its relevance when providing enteral nutrition to the critically ill paediatric patient.
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Intensive care unit (ICU) survivors report reductions in health-related quality of life (HR-QOL), whilst chronic pain is common in the general population. However, it is unknown whether there are associations between the experience of ICU and the incidence of chronic pain. A questionnaire--Pain Scale, Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), Centre of Epidemiology Study Depression Scale (CES-D Scale) and the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)--was sent to 99 consenting patients who had been in the ICU for >48 hours. ⋯ HR-QOL in ICU survivors declined, although there was a general improvement from 1-6 months. This decline in HR-QOL affected younger people (less than 65 years) more than older people. Chronic pain is a significant issue post ICU and is associated with poorer HR-QOL.