Artificial nutrition support in intensive care units in Spain

Objective A multicenter survey to study the use of nutritional support in patients admitted to the ICU in Spain.Design The survey was announced during the annual Spanish Society of Intensive Care Medicine and Coronary Units (SEMIUC) congress meeting.Setting Questionnaires designed to determine current clinical practice concerning artificial nutrition were sent to the 27 ICU who accepted to participate.Patients and participants In each center the 235-question form was filled out individually for each patient admitted to the ICU during the month of March, 1992.Interventions To validate the study a preliminary pilot surveys were conducted to ensure that there was a correct interpretation of the questions. The replies were entered into a database for analysis.Results A total of 1261 patients were studied; 33.9% received artificial nutrition (AN). The administration of AN was significantly higher in the medical group (44%), than in the surgical (37%) and the trauma group (19%). AN was significantly lower in patients admitted to private clinic than public institutions (26.7% versus 34.7%). Among the patients who received AN, enteral nutrition (EN) was administered to 59.7% of the patients, total parenteral nutrition (TPN) to 38.5%, and peripheral parenteral nutrition (PPN) to 18.2%. Medical patients received significantly more EN than surgical and trauma patients. Surgical patients received more PN than medical and trauma groups.Conclusions Nutritional support is a common practice in the treatment of ICU patients in our country. All information concerning its use is necessary to optimize it.