BACKGROUND The pathogenesis of diarrhea in patients receiving enteral feeding includes colonic water secretion, antibiotic prescription, and enteropathogenic colonization, each of which involves an interaction with the gastrointestinal microbiota. OBJECTIVE The objective was to investigate temporal changes in the concentrations of fecal microbiota and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in patien...

EARLY ENTERAL NUTRITION IS THE standard of care in critically ill patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation. However, numerous studies have shown that early enteral nutrition is frequently not used or associated with inadequate calorie delivery. The main reason for nonuse is gastrointestinal intolerance to enteral nutrition, which has been ascribed to gastroparesis with increased gastr...

Contamination of enteral diets represents a high risk of compromising the patient's medical condition. To assess the microbiological quality and aseptic conditions in the preparation and administration of handmade and industrialized enteral diets offered in a hospital in the Valley of Jequitinhonha, MG, Brazil, we performed a microbiological analysis of 50 samples of diets and 27 samples of sur...

Background: The current trend in postoperative nutrition is to promote a normal oral diet as early as possible. However, postoperative ileus is a frequent and common problem after major abdominal surgery. This study was designed to investigate whether early enteral nutrition (EEN), as a bridge to a normal diet, can reduce postoperative ileus. Methods: Patients undergoing major rectal surgery fo...

BACKGROUND Accidental connection of an enteral system to an intravenous (IV) system frequently results in the death of the patient. Misconnections are commonly attributed to the presence of universal connectors found in the majority of patient care tubing systems. Universal connectors allow for tubing misconnections between physiologically incompatible systems. METHODS The purpose of this rev...

Protein digestibility and quality of six enteral nutrition products sold in Canada were studied by rat balance and growth methods. Casein+L-methionine, 0.2 g/100 g diet (control) and six enteral products (freeze-dried) were fed as the sole source of protein in diets containing 8.61-9.12 g/100 g protein (N x 6.25) to weanling and 18-mo-old rats for a period of 2 and 1 wk, respectively. A protein...

INTRODUCTION Whether parenteral nutrition benefits growth of very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants in the setting of rapid enteral feeding advancement is unclear. Our aim was to examine this issue using data from Japan, where enteral feeding typically advances at a rapid rate. METHODS We studied 4005 hospitalized VLBW, very preterm (23-32 weeks' gestation) infants who reached full ente...

Glutamine is considered an essential amino acid during stress and critical illness. Parenteral glutamine supplementation in critically ill patients has been shown to improve survival rate and minimise infectious complications, costs and hospital length-of-stay. However, glutamine supplementation in patients receiving enteral nutrition and the best method of administration are still controversia...

Preterm neonates are susceptible to gastrointestinal disorders such as necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Maternal milk and colostrum protects against NEC via growth promoting, immunomodulatory, and antimicrobial factors. The fetal enteral diet amniotic fluid (AF), contains similar components, and we hypothesized that postnatal AF administration reduces inflammatory responses and NEC in preterm n...

CONTEXT There is controversy concerning the merits of enteral and parenteral nutrition in the management of patients with severe acute pancreatitis. OBJECTIVE This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of enteral nutrition versus parenteral nutrition on serum markers of inflammation and outcome in patients with severe acute pancreatitis. SETTING Tertiary care centre in North India. ...