P425 - FAILURE OF ORAL DIGESTION IN POST CRITICAL ILL PATIENTS

P425

FAILURE OF ORAL DIGESTION IN POST CRITICAL ILL PATIENTS

M. Aerts^1,*, Z. Rosseel², E. De Waele³

¹Gastroenterology, ²Pharmacy/Clinical nutrition, ³Clinical nutrition, UZ-Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

Rationale: We want to investigate how adequate the nutritional therapy is on a ward by finding out what the GI tolerance to oral feeding is and to which extent the disorders of gut-brain interaction are relevant in critically ill survivors population. 

Methods: We conduct an interim analysis of the Bright Side study (ClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT06023251). This study aims to identify factors contributing to suboptimal nutrition in ICU survivors, a critical aspect of their post-ICU recovery. We focus on understanding the reasons why patients experience a diminished or absent appetite, which poses a challenge to meeting their nutritional needs. We categorize these factors into two categories: somatic disorders and functional disorders.

Results: The study included 67 patients (47 males, 20 females) with a mean age of 60.8 years and a mean BMI of 26.6. Over 990 observation days, 12 barriers to adequate feeding were assessed. On 548 days (55% of observation days), one or more barriers were identified. The most frequent barriers were poor appetite (46%), anorexia (12%), early satiety (12%), refusal to eat (13%), agitation (15%), disliking the food (10%), nausea and vomiting (5%), fasting for surgery (5%), tube dislocation (6%), planned procedures (5%), and other reasons (51%). A high prevalence of poor appetite was observed, contributing to frequent failures in meeting patients’ caloric and protein needs. 

Conclusion: Nearly one in four post-critically ill patients experience nutritional deficiencies, highlighting the significant challenge of maintaining adequate nutritional intake during recovery. Our findings reveal that a substantial proportion of patients face barriers related to both somatic and functional gut failure. These issues increase the risk of long-term complications. This emphasizes the urgent need for proactive and individualized nutritional therapy, to ensure patients meet their energy and protein requirements and achieve optimal outcomes.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared