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Teodoro Grau

Publications and source records attributed to Teodoro Grau.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Immunonutrition in the intensive care unit. A systematic review and consensus statement.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the effects of enteral nutrition with pharmaconutrients-enriched diets in critically ill patients and to establish recommendations for their use. DATA SOURCES: Computerized bibliographic search of published research and citation review of relevant articles. STUDY SELECTION: Randomized clinical trials of critically ill patients treated with enteral nutrition comparing diets enriched with pharmaconutrients vs not enriched diets were included. Infectious complications and outcome variables (days on mechanical ventilation, ICU and hospital length of stay and mortality) were evaluated. Studies were classified in four subgroups according to the patient's primary diagnosis: surgical, trauma, burned or medical. DATA EXTRACTION: A group of experts in methodology performed data extraction and statistical processes. A global analysis of the studies was done and also a separate study for each subgroup. Results of the meta-analysis were discussed within a 'clinical group' of clinicians with experience in the nutritional support of ICU patients, in order to find agreement about recommendations for the use of pharmaconutrients-enriched diets in critically ill patients. RESULTS: Independent review of 267 articles identified 26 relevant primary studies. Global results indicate that there was a reduction in infection rate in the pharmaconutrition group, considering the appreciated lower incidence in abdominal abscesses (OR: 0.26, CI: 0.12-0.55) (P=0.005), nosocomial pneumonia (OR: 0.54, CI: 0.35-0.84) (P=0.007) and bacteremia (OR: 0.45, CI: 0.35-0.84) (P=0.0002). Also, patients treated with pharmaconutrition diets have a reduction in time on mechanical ventilation (mean 2.25 days, CI: 0.5-3.9) (P=0.009), ICU length of stay (mean reduction of 1.6 days, CI: 1.9-1.2) (P<0.0001) and hospital length of stay (mean reduction of 3.4 days, CI: 4.0-2.7) (P<0.0001). No effects were appreciated on mortality (OR: 1.10, CI: 0.85-1.42) (P=0.5). Nevertheless, the separate analysis for each subgroup showed that the reported beneficial effects were not the same for each patient population. Also, the clinician panel of experts identifies several problems in the published data about enteral pharmaconutrition in critically ill patients. In spite of the subgroup differences and of the problems detected, the clinician group considered that the appreciated results could support a Grade B recommendation for the use of these formulas in ICU patients. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the beneficial effects and the absence of detrimental ones, the use of diets enriched with pharmaconutrients could be recommended in ICU patients requiring enteral feeding. Nevertheless, more investigation is needed in this field in order to find the more appropriate population of patients that can benefit from this nutritional therapy.

Critical Care↗

Effect of a glutamine-enriched enteral diet on intestinal permeability and infectious morbidity at 28 days in critically ill patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome: a randomized, single-blind, prospective, multicenter study.

We investigated the effect of a glutamine-enriched enteral diet on intestinal permeability and infectious morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients who developed systemic inflammatory response syndrome after an acute event. Eleven intensive care units in tertiary-care hospitals participated in a prospective, randomized, single blind, multicenter trial. Eighty-four patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome of any etiology were randomly allocated to receive a glutamine-enriched enteral diet or a control diet without glutamine.Most patients received the planned caloric intake. The number of infected patients was smaller in the glutamine group than in the control group (11 versus 17 patients, P < 0.05), with a relative risk of 0.5 (95% confidence interval = 0.3-0.9). The most frequent infection was nosocomial pneumonia, with 11 (33%) patients in the control group and 6 (14%) in the glutamine group. There were no differences with respect to other infections, mortality, or length of stay. Intestinal permeability as assessed by the lactulose-mannitol test was unchanged in both groups.Glutamine-enriched enteral diets can decrease nosocomial infections in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

Acute Disease↗

Multicenter, prospective, randomized, single-blind study comparing the efficacy and gastrointestinal complications of early jejunal feeding with early gastric feeding in critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence of enteral nutrition-related gastrointestinal complications, the efficacy of diet administration, and the incidence of nosocomial pneumonia in patients fed in the stomach or in the jejunum. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized multicenter study. SETTING: Intensive care units (ICUs) in 11 teaching hospitals. PATIENTS: Critically ill patients who could receive early enteral nutrition more than 5 days. INTERVENTIONS: Enteral nutrition was started in the first 36 hrs after admission. One group was fed with a nasogastric tube (GEN group) and the other in the jejunum through a dual-lumen nasogastrojejunal tube (JEN group). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Gastrointestinal complications were previously defined. The efficacy of diet administration was calculated using the volume ratio (expressed as the ratio between administered and prescribed volumes). Nosocomial pneumonia was defined according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's definitions. One hundred ten patients were included (GEN: 51, JEN: 50). Both groups were comparable in age, gender, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II, and Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score. There were no differences in feeding duration, ICU length of stay, or mortality (43% vs. 38%). The JEN group had lesser gastrointestinal complications (57% vs. 24%, p <.001), mainly because of a lesser incidence of increased gastric residuals (49% vs. 2%, p <.001). Volume ratio was similar in both groups. A post hoc analysis showed that the JEN group had a higher volume ratio at day 7 than the GEN group (68% vs. 82%, p <.03) in patients from ICUs with previous experience in jejunal feeding. Both groups had a similar incidence of nosocomial pneumonia (40% vs. 32%). CONCLUSIONS: Gastrointestinal complications are less frequent in ICU patients fed in the jejunum. Nevertheless, it seems to be a necessary learning curve to achieve better results with a postpyloric access. Early enteral nutrition using a nasojejunal route seems not to be an efficacious measure to decrease nosocomial pneumonia in critically ill patients.

Critical Illness↗

Safety and metabolic tolerance of a concentrated long-chain triglyceride lipid emulsion in critically ill septic and trauma patients.

BACKGROUND: A concentrated fat emulsion (Intralipid 30%) with a phospholipid/triglyceride ratio of 0.04 was tested for clinical tolerance and metabolic effects in the short-term parenteral nutrition of septic and trauma critically ill patients and compared with Intralipid 20% (phospholipid/triglyceride ratio of 0.06). METHODS: This was a prospective, randomized, multicenter study in the intensive care units in 10 university hospitals, including 90 adult patients in 2 groups: 55 septic and 35 trauma patients. Patients in each group were randomly divided into 2 subgroups according to the fat emulsions administered (1.4 g/kg per day) as part of the calories for at least 6 days of continuous total parenteral nutrition (TPN). One subgroup was treated with 30% long-chain triglycerides (phospholipid/ triglyceride ratio: 0.04) and the other with 20% long-chain triglycerides (phospholipid/triglyceride ratio: 0.06). The parenteral nutrition formula was isocaloric and isonitrogenous with 0.25 g of nitrogen/kg per day and 40% of the nonprotein calories as fat. Clinical tolerance was assessed during the study. At baseline and after 3 and 6 days of TPN, the following biochemical parameters were measured: prealbumin, retinol-binding protein, serum albumin, hematologic, hepatic and renal function variables, triglycerides, phospholipids, total and free cholesterol, nonesterified cholesterol, nonesterified fatty acids, and lipoproteins. RESULTS: At baseline, no differences in age, gender, severity of the condition [Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score], or clinical chemistry were found between the subgroups. The levels of plasma proteins studied and the renal, hematologic, or hepatic function variables did not vary during the study period. Total cholesterol increased significantly, owing to esterified cholesterol, with 20% long-chain triglyceride in septic patients (baseline: 2.1 +/- 0.8 mmol/L, day 6: 2.8 +/- 0.6 mmol/L, p = .026). In septic patients receiving 20% long-chain triglycerides, plasma triglycerides had a similar behavior (baseline: 1.4 +/- 0.6 mmol/L, day 3: 2.2 +/- 0.8 mmol/L, p < .05). The very-low-density lipoprotein content of cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids showed a tendency to decrease in septic patients treated with 30% long-chain triglycerides (NS). None of the emulsions induced the synthesis of lipoprotein X. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that while both fat emulsions used in the TPN of critically ill patients are clinically safe, the 30% long-chain triglyceride fat emulsion with a phospholipid/triglyceride ratio of 0.04 causes fewer lipid metabolic disturbances.

APACHE↗