Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
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There may be a correlation in critically ill children between the accuracy of estimated energy requirement and infection, mortality, and length of stay. Historically, energy needs were estimated using predictive equations with stress factor adjustments. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the evidence for indirect calorimetry, predictive equations, and other clinical indicators (ie, patient outcomes) to estimate energy requirements of the postoperative, critically ill, cardiac infant. ⋯ Actual energy delivery to the postoperative cardiac surgery child in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) can be further hindered by many procedural and patient barriers. The provision of appropriate caloric requirements may help clinicians correct the metabolic state and promote recovery and anabolism. Therefore, optimizing nutrition intake of the postoperative, cardiac surgical child requires a paradigm shift toward individualized nutrition prescription, in the context of a PICU-specific feeding algorithm.