Evaluation of the degree of adherence to the nutritional recommendations of the critical care patient

Abstract

Background: the application of specialized nutritional support (SNE) is difficult at the organizational level due to the complexity of clinical practice guidelines and we do not know the degree of adherence to the published nutritional recommendations. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of adherence to the recommendations of high impact and "do not do" within our environment, in order to show areas for improvement. Methods: survey of nine questions agreed by experts and carried out in different ICUs of our environment, which reflected the recommendations in SNE. Data related to the organizational characteristics and the healthcare provider that indicated the nutritional support were collected. The differences regarding the degree of adherence between the level of care and the presence of an expert in these units were analyzed. Results: thirty-seven ICUs participated, which corresponded mostly to second level hospitals and polyvalent ICUs with an SNE indicated by intensivists. The adherence to the recommendations was > 80%, with three exceptions associated with issues related to the refeeding syndrome (70.3%), the caloric-protein adjustment of nutrition according to the patient's evolutionary phase (51.4%) and the adjustment of protein intake in patients with renal failure (40.5%). There were no differences according to the level of care or the presence of an expert in these ICUs. Only a greater availability of local nutrition protocols was observed in those ICUs with an expertise. Conclusions: there is a high theoretical adherence to the majority of recommendations in the nutritional field, with exceptions that could correspond to areas where there is an opportunity for improvement.