Causes of interruption in enteral nutrition in CCU patients - experience from an indian hospital.

Introduction In Critical Care Units the life threatening issues take a priority and Nutrition takes a backseat. Nutrition is a therapy as important as others and influences the outcome of CCU patients. Early initiation of enteral nutrition (“Work the gut”) is the mainstay of nutrition in critical care. Owing to their disease process these patients are at an increased risk of being underfed and if not monitored properly they experience “Calorie Debt” with serious consequences on the outcome quantified using indicators like morbidity, mortality, stress ulcers, pressure ulcers and other markers.