Long-term Health Consequences of Under- and Over-feeding in PICU

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov July 26, 2019

Energy is essential for the treatment and recovery of children admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU). There are significant immediate and long-term health consequences of both under- and over-feeding in this population. Energy requirements of critically ill children vary depending on age, nutritional status, sepsis, fever, pharmacotherapy, and duration and stage of critical illness.

A total of 139 patients aged 10 months were included. A total of 210 IC tests were conducted showing a statistically significant difference between MREE measurements and PBMR. Of the 210 measurements, only 26 measures demonstrated appropriate feeding, while 72 were underfed and 112 were overfed.

This retrospective study confirms that estimations of energy expenditure in critically ill children are inaccurate leading to unintended under and overfeeding. Importantly under feeding seems to be associated with fewer mechanical ventilation days and PICU LOS.