An Observational Study of Nutritional Assessment, Prescription, Practices, and Its Outcome among Critically Ill Patients Admitted to an Intensive Care Unit

Aim and background: Optimal feeding strategy for critically ill patients of intensive care unit (ICU) is often a matter of debate as patients admitted to ICU are highly catabolic and reduction in muscle mass is very common.We aimed at early achievement of nutritional goals in preventing skeletal muscle breakdown and improving clinical outcomes among critically ill patients with high risk of malnutrition.Materials and methods: Nutrition risk in the critically ill (mNUTRIC) Score was used to identify the risk of malnutrition within 24 hours of admission.Quadriceps muscle mass index was measured within 24 hours of admission to ICU and repeated on 7th day.Enteral feeding was monitored by the nutrition expert as part of routine patient care and clinical outcomes were monitored.Results: A total of 287 patients admitted in ICU were screened for malnutrition and 60 (20.9%) of them had high score (>5).There was no statistically significant reduction in the quadriceps muscle mass index (p 0.05). Conclusion:Early initiation and maintenance of enteral nutrition is essential for meeting target calories and protein requirements.It may help to preserve muscle mass in critically ill patients who are otherwise at high risk of malnutrition.