Gastrointestinal

The intensive care setting brings many stressors that can cause dysfunction of the gastrointestinal system. This dysfunction may occur at a time when physiologically, the need for increased nutrients has skyrocketed.

Gastrointestinal failure can manifest in several ways:

Delayed gastric emptying
Failure to absorb feed
Ileus and pseudo-obstruction
Diarrhea
Stress Ulceration
Hemorrhage
GI ischemia
Liver dysfunction

ref: oxfordmedicaleducation.com

Nutrition

When considering nutritional needs in the ICU, remember that critical illness increases oxidative stress and pushes a patient's metabolism into a catabolic state. Nutritional needs will be higher than expected. Additionally, dysfunction of the gastrointestinal system can contribute to lower caloric and nutrient intake than that calculated from delivered volumes.

ASPEN