Target calorie intake achievements for patients treated in the surgical intensive care unit

Abstract

BackgroundAdequate nutritional therapy in critically ill patients is integral to an optimal outcome. This study determined which clinical factors affect the target calorie approach during SICU admission.MethodsConsecutive patients that were provided with nutritional support during their hospitalization in the Chung-Ang university hospital SICU from August 2014 to July 2016 were included in this retrospective study. Data on demographics, supplied calorie amount and method, lengths of stay in the hospital and the intensive care unit, and mortality outcomes when discharged from the SICU were collected and analyzed. ResultsIn 279 patients, 36.9% approached target calorie intake during SICU stay. In multivariate regression analysis, patients’ sex and nasogastric tube insertion were significant factors affecting target calorie approach. (OR 2.00 for female sex, 2.03 for nasogastric tube insertion; p-value 0.012 and 0.024 for each, respectively) When we divide the patients into two groups by SICU stay length, nasogastric tube insertion is more important variable in ≤7days of SICU stay for achieve the target calorie goal. (OR 4.13; p-value 0.006) As higher amounts of calories are supplied to the patients, total lymphocyte count (TLC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels improved significantly without changes in mortality.ConclusionExistence of nasogastric tube and patient sex were important clinical factors to reach target calorie supply for SICU patients and their importance is different according to SICU stay length.