Intestinal failure

The gastrointestinal tract plays a major role in critical illness. We will review four common problem areas pertaining to the gut and abdominal compartment that intensivists managing critically ill patients must deal with on an everyday basis. In the area of enteral nutrition, there have been concer...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Current opinion in anaesthesiology 2005-04, Vol.18 (2), p.123-127
Hauptverfasser: Kutayli, Ziad N, Domingo, Carlos B, Steinberg, Steven M
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Online-Zugang:Volltext
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The gastrointestinal tract plays a major role in critical illness. We will review four common problem areas pertaining to the gut and abdominal compartment that intensivists managing critically ill patients must deal with on an everyday basis. In the area of enteral nutrition, there have been concerns that early feeding in hemodynamically unstable patients might cause bowel infarction by increasing the gut oxygen consumption beyond splanchnic oxygen delivery. The most recent data suggest that early enteral feeding, even when patients are receiving vasopressors, is safe and may actually protect the gut by increasing gut perfusion. Although there are no new treatments for ileus, in most critically ill patients ileus primarily affects the stomach and large intestine, and most patients who are diagnosed with ileus may still be fed enterally as long as they are fed distal to the stomach. Diarrhea is a common occurrence in the intensive care unit, particularly in patients who are being fed enterally. Of most import is the realization that Clostridium difficile infection is ubiquitous and must be considered in virtually every case of diarrhea. Abdominal compartment syndrome is usually a result of shock, and its resuscitation with increased intra-abdominal pressure results in many untoward hemodynamic and respiratory events. Early recognition and treatment seem to be associated with improved outcome. Continued progress in the areas of optimal nutritional support, understanding the implications of alterations in immune function of the gut, and the avoidance of such morbid complications as abdominal compartment syndrome are expected.
ISSN:0952-7907
DOI:10.1097/01.aco.0000162829.51399.52