Hypocaloric Nutrition in Critically Ill Patients

Effectiveness of Hypocaloric Nutrition Compared With Standard Care in Critically Ill Adults Patients, a Randomized Controlled Trial

The aim of this study is to compare two nutritional regimes in critically ill patients. Patients will be randomized to standard care (25 kcal per kg) or to hypocaloric nutrition (15 kcal per kg). The main outcome will be the SOFA (sequential organ failure assessment) score. The hypothesis is that hypocaloric hyperproteic diet decreases the incidence of organic failure in these patients.

The research site will be the intensive care unit (ICU) of Hospital Universitario San Ignacio; eligible patients will >18 years of age with a presumed fasting period of at least 96 hours, with no contraindications for enteral nutrition. Patients with parenteral nutrition, pregnancy, diabetes, liver failure, renal failure, transplant protocol, or admitted from another hospital will be excluded. In all patients, the following information will be collected daily: enteral formula in ml, carbohydrate intake, insulin required (in IU), presence of hyper or hypoglicemia, presence of infections, among others.

The SOFA score will be assessed every two days until discharge from ICU.

Inclusion Criteria:

• >18 years
• estimated fasting period of at least 96 hours

Exclusion Criteria:

• parenteral nutrition
• pregnancy
• diabetes
• liver or renal failure
• transplantation
• admitted from another hospital