OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to asssess the adequacy of energy intake of multiple trauma patients in the intensive care unit of a public hospital in the city of Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, who require ventilatory support, by comparing prescribed energy intake with effectively administered energy, and energy requirement estimated by the Harris-Benedict equation with the energy prescription of each patient. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study of patients with multiple trauma simultaneously on mechanical ventilation and enteral nutrition. Duration of mechanical ventilation and energy intake during enteral nutrition were verified. The association between quantitative variables was assessed by the Spearman correlation test due to variable asymmetry. RESULTS: Sixty patients aged 18 to 78 years were studied, 81.7% of them males. Median length of hospital stay, intensive care unit stay, and duration of mechanical ventilation was 29, 14, and 6 days, respectively. The mean percentage of administered calories was 68.6% (SD=18.3%). Of the entire sample, 16 (26.7%) patients received at least 80% of their daily energy requirement. There was no significant association between total energy administered and duration of mechanical ventilation (r s=0.130; p=0.321), length of intensive care unit stay (r s=-0.117; p=0.372) and length of hospital stay (r s=-0.152; p=0.246). CONCLUSION: The study patients did not receive the prescribed energy. Therefore, they were at risk of malnutrition and its adverse clinical outcomes.
Energy intake; Energy requirement; Enteral nutrition; Artificial respiration; Multiple trauma
