Enteral nutrition administration in a surgical intensive care unit: Achieving goals with better strategies

Table 1 Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria	n	Pre-intervention phase	Post-intervention phase
Enteral nutrition not initiated	10	8	2
Intestinal transplant	1	1	0
Tube fed < 48 h	30	13	17
Tube feed initiated before ICU admission	1	1	0
Patient to or for GI surgery	2	2	0
Not tolerating	1	1	0
Withdrawal of care	0	0	0
Total	45	26	19

Exclusion criteria with counts for pre-intervention, post-intervention and the total number of patients who met each criterion. ICU: Intensive care unit; GI: Gastrointestinal.

Table 2 Baseline characteristics and study cohort

Patient demographics	Pre-intervention phase	Post-intervention phase	All patients
Age (yr)	67 ± 16	66 ± 16	67 ± 16
Male	31 (58%)	26 (51%)	57 (55%)
Height (cm)	166.79 ± 11.59	167.09 ± 12.37	166.93 ± 11.91
Weight (kg)	76.7 ± 22.8	81.7 ± 25.5	79.1 ± 24.2
GI surgery	18 (34%)	27 (53%)	45 (43%)
Vascular surgery	8 (15%)	3 (6%)	11 (11%)
Transplant	14 (26%)	11 (22%)	25 (24%)
Medicine	3 (6%)	5 (9%)	8 (7.5%)
Surgical oncology	7 (13%)	1 (2%)	8 (7.5%)
Other (ENT, HIV medicine, orthopedics, orthopedic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery)	3 (6%)	4 (8%)	7 (7%)
Total	53	51	104

Data are reported as mean ± SD or n (%). Patient demographics (average age, gender, average height and average admission weight) and primary service caring for patient upon admission to ICU. ICU: Intensive care unit; GI: Gastrointestinal; HIV: Human immunodeficiency virus.

Table 3 Hold time (hours) median hold time and interquartile ranges by interruption type

Interruption	Pre-intervention phase	Post-intervention phase
Procedures	17.4 (9-19)	20 (7-24)
Residuals	17.5 (7-22)	21.5 (4-29)
Weaning	13.6 (4-15)	12.6 (7-14)
Other1	22.9 (10-48)	11.3 (3-15)
Undocumented	5.7 (3-4)	6.9 (4-10)
All interruptions	14.6 (4-17.25)	16.6 (5-22.5)

Data are reported as median and interquartile range. Length of interruptions by type during the pre- and post-intervention phases.

¹Nursing care, change in status, etc.