Background: The aim of study was to test the hypothesis that early enteral nutrition (EN) with calorie-dense and protein rich enteral formula improves enteral energy and protein delivery in critically ill cardiac patients.
Methods: Prospective randomized pilot study of 40 ventilated adult patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery with use of cardiopulmonary bypass receiving inotropic support postoperatively. Patients were to receive either standard isocaloric (1000 Kcal/L and 38 g/L protein) early EN (n = 20) or calorie-dense and protein-rich (1300 Kcal/L and 66.7 g/L protein) early EN (n = 20).
Results: The mean time to EN initiation was 27 ± 11 h. Early EN with the calorie-dense formula provided significantly more energy and protein enteral delivery on the 2nd, (p < 0.0001), 5th (p = 0.036), and 7th days (p = 0.024), and was associated with higher levels of prealbumin concentration on the 14th day (0.13 ± 0.01 g/L and 0.21 ± 0.1 g/L; p = 0.04) and significantly increased levels of transferrin on the 3rd, 5th, and 7th day (p < 0.05) after surgery.
Conclusion: Present findings support hypothesis that early EN using a calorie-dense and protein rich formula leads to better enteral energy and protein delivery and higher levels of short-lived serum proteins.
Keywords: cardiac surgery; critical care; early enteral nutrition; energy-dense formula; enteral energy delivery; protein-rich formula.