Nutrition support in the chronic critically ill patients / 中华危重病急救医学

ABSTRACT

Over the last decade, chronic critically ill (CCI) has emerged as an epidemic in intensive care unit (ICU) survivors worldwide. Advances in ICU technology and implementation of care bundles has significantly decreased early deaths of critically ill patients, and have allowed them to survive previously lethal multiple organ failure (MOF). However, more and more survivors leave persistent low grade organ dysfunctions, depend on continues organ support, need to stay in ICU, and become CCI patients. These patients experience a persistent immune dysregulation with persistent inflammation, immunosuppression, and catabolic syndrome. Therefore, malnutrition is an important feature of patients with CCI, and nutritional support is a crucial part of their treatment. The main strategies of nutritional support are as follows: providing sufficient calories and proteins with appropriate anabolic agents to promote anabolic metabolism, using immunomodulators to improve immune suppression and inflammatory responses, and supplementing micronutrients to enhance metabolic support. In this review, the nutritional assessment, calorie assessment, protein assessment and other nutrient supplementation (such as β blocker, testosterone and oxandrolone, immunonutrition, vitamins) of CCI patients were reviewed, so as to provide reference for the treatment of CCI.