Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
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Macronutrient deficiency in critical illness is associated with worse outcomes. We hypothesized that an aggressive enteral nutrition (EN) protocol would result in higher macronutrient delivery and fewer late infections. ⋯ In surgical ICU patients, implementation of an aggressive EN protocol resulted in greater macronutrient delivery and fewer late infections.
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Enteral nutrition (EN) misconnections have been identified as a serious and potential deadly problem. An international effort led by EN industry leaders has developed a small-bore enteral connector (ENFit) that in theory will reduce the frequency of misconnections. Despite the potential benefit of preventing misconnections, the full impact of adoption of the ENFit connector is unknown. To assess the impact of transitioning to ENFit on our home EN (HEN) patients, the current study evaluated gravity feeding comparing 2 proposed small-bore connectors to the legacy (current connector) using various commercial formulas. ⋯ There is wide variability in the flow dynamics in ENFit connectors with significant potential impact on many facets of HEN, including medicine delivery, blenderized feeds, venting, and compliance with EN due to increased time to administer feeds. We highly recommend additional testing of flow dynamics, including gravity flow, as ENFit tubes are being developed and adopted.