Enteral Feeding of Children on Noninvasive Respiratory Support: A Four-Center European Study*

Objectives: To explore enteral feeding practices and the achievement of energy targets in children on noninvasive respiratory support, in four European PICUs. Design: A four-center retrospective cohort study. Setting: Four PICUs: Bristol, United Kingdom; Lyon, France; Madrid, Spain; and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Patients: Children in PICU who required acute noninvasive respiratory support in the first 7 days. The primary outcome was achievement of standardized kcal/goal. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: A total of 325 children were included (Bristol 104; Lyon 99; Madrid 72; and Rotterdam 50). The median (interquartile range) age and weight were 3 months (1–16 mo) and 5 kg (4–10 mo), respectively, with 66% admitted with respiratory failure. There were large between-center variations in practices. Overall, 190/325 (58.5%) received noninvasive respiratory support in order to prevent intubation and 41.5% after extubation. The main modes of noninvasive respiratory support used were high-flow nasal cannula 43.6%, bilevel positive airway pressure 33.2%, and continuous positive airway pressure 21.2%. Most children (77.8%) were fed gastrically (48.4% continuously) and the median time to the first feed after noninvasive respiratory support initiation was 4 hours (interquartile range, 1–9 hr). The median percentage of time a child was nil per oral while on noninvasive respiratory support was 4 hours (2–13 hr). Ove...
Source: Pediatric Critical Care Medicine - Category: Pediatrics Tags: Online Clinical Investigations Source Type: research