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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1548574
This article is part of the Research TopicNutritional Challenges and Therapies in Youth with Chronic Inflammatory DiseasesView all 4 articles
Interruptions in nutritional therapy in children with chronicdiseases during the acute phase of critical illness and their effect on the administered volume
Provisionally accepted
Patrícia Zamberlan1*
Petrovane Morais de Torres2
Juliana Caires De Oliveira Achili Ferreira3
Werther Brunow Carvalho3
Artur Delgado3- 1Instituto da Criança e do Adolescente/Hospital das Clínicas - Division of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 2Instituto da Criança e do Adolescente/Hospital das Clínicas - Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- 3Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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Undernutrition is a common concern among critically ill children and adolescents in the hospital setting. Inadequate delivery of nutrition therapy (NT) can significantly contribute to the prevalence of undernutrition in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). Objective: To assess the impact of interruptions on the volume of NT delivered to children with basal chronic conditions, as well as the calories and proteins provided, during the acute phase in the PICU.Methods: A cohort of critically ill pediatric patients with basal chronic conditions was analyzed to evaluate the administration of enteral or parenteral nutrition.The focus was on the volume of NT not effectively delivered and the underlying causes of incomplete NT. Results: A total of 120 children were included, the majority of whom were undernourished (47.5%) by body mass index-for-age (BMI/A). A significant proportion of the prescribed enteral (EN) or parenteral nutrition (PN) was not administered during the first and third days of evaluation.The most prevalent reasons for interruptions were procedures delays and complications arising during treatment in the PICU. Conclusions: Interruptions in NT delivery are frequent among critically ill children; the volume of NT not delivered was greater on the third day for both EN and PN after initiation; procedures delays and mild gastrointestinal complications were the main causes of incomplete NT administration.
Keywords: Nutrition Therapy, Enteral Nutrition, Parenteral Nutrition, Child hospitalized, Intensive Care Units, pediatric, Nutrients
Received: 19 Dec 2024; Accepted: 17 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zamberlan, de Torres, Caires De Oliveira Achili Ferreira, Carvalho and Delgado. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Patrícia Zamberlan, Instituto da Criança e do Adolescente/Hospital das Clínicas - Division of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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