OBJECTIVE To evaluate enteral feeding practices in neonatal units in different countries and on different continents. DESIGN A web-based survey of 127 tertiary neonatal intensive care units in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and the UK. RESULTS 124 units (98%) responded. 59 units (48%) had a breast milk bank or access to donor human milk (Australia/New Zeala...

OBJECTIVE to evaluate the correlation between the auscultation test and X-ray when detecting the position of an enteral feeding tube. METHODS cross-sectional study in an intensive care unit in southern Brazil, in 2011. Clinical nurse and nurse researcher performed auscultation test recording the impressions regarding the placement of an enteral feeding tube in 80 patients. A doctor evaluated ...

Nutrition support is required to prevent or reverse malnutrition in the 15%–20% of patients that develop severe or complicated pancreatitis who are unable to resume oral intake in seven-to-ten days. The best available data supports the use of jejunal feeding over parenteral nutrition in those patients. Jejunal enteral nutrition can be successfully achieved by using nasojejunal access (in those ...

Diarrhoea is a common and serious complication of enteral tube feeding. Its pathogenesis involves antibiotic prescription, enteropathogenic colonization and abnormal colonic responses, all of which involve an interaction with the colonic microbiota. Alterations in the colonic microbiota have been identified in patients receiving enteral tube feeding and these changes may be associated with the ...

STUDY OBJECTIVES To determine the impact of early enteral feeding on the outcome of critically ill medical patients. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected large multi-institutional ICU database. PATIENTS A total of 4,049 patients requiring mechanical ventilation for > 2 days. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS Patients were classified according to whether or not they received e...

Advances in technical aspects of enteral feeding such as the manufacture of tubes from polyurethane or silicone have helped promote the science of enteral nutrition. Nasoenteral tubes have few complications, apart from a high unwanted extubation rate and some reluctance from patients because of cosmetic unacceptability. Needle jejunostomy has low morbidity but can only be placed at laparotomy. ...

INTRODUCTION AND AIMS Microbial contamination of enteral feeding and infant formulas can result in a risk of worsening of the clinical condition of the patients, who are already weakened and susceptible to pathogens. The objective was to evaluate aspects of the management of quality hygienic - sanitary of enteral feeding and infant formulas in hospitals, focusing on the structure, process and o...

It is now accepted that, whenever possible, nutritional support should be given enterally, reserving parenteral nutrition for patients with intestinal failure. This is partly because of the many problems associated with parenteral feeding, such as complications of central line insertion and metabolic derangements,1 but recently it has also been appreciated that enteral feeding may have a positi...

UNLABELLED Very-low-birthweight (VLBW) infants suffer marked growth delay despite well-intentioned efforts at combining enteral and parenteral nutrition. Fear of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) has traditionally influenced neonatologists toward delaying and progressing slowly with enteral feeding, while supporting the infant with parenteral nutrition. Current evidence suggests significant benef...

Malnutrition is common in critically ill patients and is associated with poor outcomes for patients and increased health care spending. Enteral nutrition is the method of choice for nutrition delivery. Enteral nutrition delivery practices vary widely, and underfeeding is widespread in critical care. Interruptions in enteral nutrition due to performance of procedures, positioning, technical issu...