Yanamaladoddi V, D’Cunha H, Charley E, Kumar V, Sohal A, Youssef W. Early enteral nutrition in critically-ill patients. World J Crit Care Med 2025; 14(3): 102834 [DOI: 10.5492/wjccm.v14.i3.102834]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Aalam Sohal, MD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Creighton University School of Medicine, 3216 NE 45th Pl Suite 212, Phoenix, AZ 85012, United States. aalamsohal@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Critical Care Medicine
Article-Type of This Article
Minireviews
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Vishnu Yanamaladoddi, Hannah D’Cunha, Internal Medicine, Creighton University School of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ 85012, United States
Ericka Charley, Vikash Kumar, Aalam Sohal, Wael Youssef, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Creighton University School of Medicine, Phoenix, AZ 85012, United States
Author contributions: Yanamaladoddi V and Sohal A conceptualized and designed the study; Yanamaladoddi V and D’Cunha H conducted the literature review, interpreted the data, created the artwork and drafted the manuscript; Charley E, Kumar V, Sohal A, and Youssef W supervised the study and made critical revisions; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Aalam Sohal, MD, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Creighton University School of Medicine, 3216 NE 45th Pl Suite 212, Phoenix, AZ 85012, United States. aalamsohal@gmail.com
Received: October 31, 2024 Revised: March 6, 2025 Accepted: March 14, 2025 Published online: September 9, 2025 Processing time: 261 Days and 11.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Early enteral nutrition (EEN), initiated within 48 hours of intensive care unit admission, demonstrates significant benefits across various critical care settings. This review highlights the role of EEN in reducing mortality, infections, and intensive care unit length of stay among patients with severe burns, sepsis, gastrointestinal bleeds, acute pancreatitis along with patients in critical cardiac, respiratory and neurological disease states. EEN also modulates immune responses, supports gut integrity, and decreases stress-related complications. Although some recent studies question EEN’s efficacy, the overall evidence supports its adoption as a standard care practice for critically ill patients to enhance recovery without substantial adverse effects.
