Benefit of an enteral diet enriched with eicosapentaenoic acid and gamma-linolenic acid in ventilated patients with acute lung injury*

Abstract

In patients with acute lung injury, a diet enriched with EPA + GLA may be beneficial for gas exchange, respiratory dynamics, and requirements for mechanical ventilation.

The truth about nutrition in the ICU

“…Supplemental n-3 fatty acids (10 g/day of omega-3 fatty acids) administered enterally continuously in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or acute lung injury (ALI) have been associated with PaO 2 /FiO 2 improvement and decrease in length of ventilation [17]. When administered in larger doses and in bolus, the results were not confirmed.…”

Immunonutrition: a South African perspective

“…55,56 Three studies with the said product as active intervention in patients with diagnosed ARDS have shown a reduction in pulmonary neutrophils, an improvement in oxygenation, decreased severity of ARDS, decreased ventilator days, decreased length of stay in ICU and length of stay in hospital and decreased lung cytokine and protein secretion. [83][84][85] Despite these positive results, some concerns were raised regarding the studies. These included the fact that the control groups received high-fat formula, some studies did not have an intention-to-treat design and it was difficult to conclude whether it was the fish oil or other constituents in the formula that exerted the reported positive outcomes.…”

Novel nutritional substrates in surgery

“…Clinical studies examining the effects of enteral nutrition containing high amounts of n-3 PUFA as well as g -linolenic acid and antioxidants, consistently showed significant clinical benefits in patients with other inflammatory diseases, for example, acute respiratory distress syndrome or sepsis (81,98,99) .…”