Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Aug 1;28(4):395-400.
doi: 10.1097/MCC.0000000000000961. Epub 2022 Jul 5.

Nutrition before, during and after critical illness

Emma J Ridley  1   2 , Kate Lambell  2
Affiliations
Review

Nutrition before, during and after critical illness

Emma J Ridley et al. Curr Opin Crit Care. .

Abstract

Purpose of review: This review describes considerations preintensive care unit (ICU), within ICU and in the post-ICU period regarding nutrition management and the current state of the literature base informing clinical care.

Recent findings: Within ICU, studies have focussed on the first 5-7 days of illness in mechanically ventilated patients who are heterogeneous and with minimal consideration to premorbid nutrition state. Many evidence gaps in the period within ICU remain, with the major ones being the amount of protein to provide and the impact of longer-term nutrition interventions. Personalised nutrition and nutrition in the post-ICU period are becoming key areas of focus.

Summary: Nutrition for the critically ill patient should not be viewed in isolated time periods; what happens before, during and after ICU is likely important to the overall recovery trajectory. It is critical that the impact of nutrition on clinical and functional outcomes across hospitalisation is investigated in specific groups and using interventions in ways that are biologically plausible to impact. Areas that show promise for the future of critical care nutrition include interventions delivered for a longer duration and inclusion of oral nutrition support, individualised nutrition regimes, and use of emerging bedside body composition techniques to identify patients at nutritional risk.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Heyland DK, Dhaliwal R, Jiang X, Day AG. Identifying critically ill patients who benefit the most from nutrition therapy: the development and initial validation of a novel risk assessment tool. Crit Care 2011; 15:R268.
    1. Cattani A, Eckert IC, Brito JE, et al. Nutritional risk in critically ill patients: how it is assessed, its prevalence and prognostic value: a systematic review. Nutr Rev 2020; 78:1052–1068.
    1. Jaitovich A, Dumas CL, Itty R, et al. ICU admission body composition: skeletal muscle, bone, and fat effects on mortality and disability at hospital discharge—a prospective, cohort study. Critical Care 2020; 24:566.
    1. Ng CC, Lee ZY, Chan WY, et al. Low muscularity as assessed by abdominal computed tomography on intensive care unit admission is associated with mortality in a critically ill Asian population. J Parenter Enteral Nutr 2020; 44:425–433.
    1. Fuchs G, Thevathasan T, Chretien YR, et al. Lumbar skeletal muscle index derived from routine computed tomography exams predict adverse postextubation outcomes in critically ill patients. J Crit Care 2018; 44:117–123.