Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Comparison of the effects of enteral feeding through the bolus and continuous methods on blood sugar and prealbumin levels in ICU inpatients

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Mohsen Shahriari
. Ehsaneh Rezaei 1
. Leila Azad Bakht 2
. Saeid Abbasi 3

1 Alzahra Medical Center

2 Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science

3 Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract
Background: Appropriate nutritional support is effective on achievement of expected
outcomes in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Although several studies have suggested
different conclusions about the effectiveness of tube feeding methods, there is no specific
program of nutritional support for patients who have been hospitalized. There is a possibility
for complications due to an inadequate nutrition. The aim of our study is to compare the effects
of enteral feeding through the bolus and continuous methods on blood sugar and prealbumin
level among the ICU inpatients. Materials and Methods: Fifty subjects were selected by
convenient sampling from April to Aug 2013 in the ICU wards of Alzahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran,
and randomly assigned to study and control groups in this clinical trial. The subjects in the
study group received infusion pump feeding while the control group received bolus feeding for
72 h. Blood sugar was checked for every 4 h for 72 h and the prealbumin level was assessed on
the first and the fourth day in two groups. Results: In the study group, the mean blood sugar
significantly decreased on the fourth day, compared with the first (P = 0.03, F = 3.85) and
third (P = 0.01, F = 3.15) day. In the control group, the mean blood sugar increased from the
first day. It was significantly higher in the control group on the second day (P = 0.02, F = 3.55),
compared with the study group. In the study group, there was a significant difference in the
mean prealbumin before and after intervention (P = 0.048, t = 1.97), but no significant difference
was observed in the control group. There was a significant difference between two groups after
intervention (P = 0.04, t = 2.05). Conclusion: The obtained results showed that supportive
nutrition through a continuous method had an effect on critical patients’ blood sugar control
and made a better nutritional status for these patients through an increase of prealbumin level.
Positive effects of this feeding method can result in appropriate outcomes for patients’ recovery
and reduce the complications.

Keywords

Blood sugar
bolus feeding
continuous feeding
intensive care unit
prealbumin
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 5, Issue 5
Autumn 2015
Pages 1-5

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