Reducing In-Hospital and 60-Day Mortality in ICU Patients After Surgery With Strict Nutritional Supplementation

"The participants in active nutritional supplementation arm received consultation from the nutritional support team (NST) upon ICU admission, and nutritional supplementation was initiated on the same day.~NST is a multidisciplinary support team comprised of physicians, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists, which assesses the nutritional status of patients, and provides recommendations for nutritional therapy. Targets in the participants in active nutritional supplementation arm were protein supplementation at over 1.5 g/kg/day, calorie provision at over 20 kcal/kg/day, and energy adequacy of at least 80%. Energy target was estimated by multiplying the resting energy expenditure using the Harris and Benedict equation by an activity factor of 1.3 and a stress factor of 1.1. Actual body weight was used as the body weight for patients with a percent of ideal body weight (PIBW) of less than 120%, while adjusted body weight was used for patients with a PIBW greater than or equal to 120%."

The participants in conventional nutritional supplementation arm received conservative nutritional management without specific protein or caloric targets.