Assessment of Nutrition In Severly Ill Surgical Patients in Intensive Care Units

Dr.  MAYUR M. KADAM; Dr. SATISH BABU. R

Volume : III, Issue : IX, September - 2014

Assessment of Nutrition In Severly Ill Surgical Patients in Intensive Care Units

Dr. Mayur M. Kadam, Dr. Satish Babu. R

Abstract :

Background and Objectives Nutritional assessment of the critically ill is an accepted principal managing patients in the surgical intensive care units. Although various procedures are available to assess the nutritional requirements of individual patients there is no set protocol available to determine or predict the nutritional support of a critically ill surgical patient. This study addresses this issue of nutritional assessment in the critically ill patients. Methods : A prospective cohort study including patient who were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit. Nutritional assessment done for these patients using Subjective Global Assessment and anthropometry and those who received nutritional support were compared with those who have not receive nutritional support. Results Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) is more reliable as compared to Anthropometry in assessing nutritional status of critically ill surgical patients Malnourished patients who received nutritional support have a better outcome as compared to those who did not, with a trend towards normalization of biochemical parameters (serum albumin) Conclusion : Nutritional assessment is important especially in the critically ill patients sensitivity to nutritional risk on the part of the physician may lead to identification of patients at risk for developing nutrition related morbidity and mortality. Using tools already at the physicians disposal, patients can be identified who would benefit from nutritional intervention. The nutritional assessment must include the understanding of the difference between malnourishment and dysmetabolism and their different effects on the patient. In summarizing the evidence, it appears that moderate to severely malnourished patients are most likely to benfit from nutritional support intervention.