BACKGROUND & AIMS: The impact of nutrition support on patients with acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI) has not been fully determined. This study aimed to 1) investigate the relationship between nutrition support and AGI, as well as nutrition support and prognosis in critically ill AGI patients and 2) evaluate the prognostic benefits of nutrition support in different severity categories of AGI patients.

METHODS

This prospective study included 379 patients in whom AGI occurred in the first 72 h after admission from 12 teaching hospitals in China. Clinical characteristics including demographics, APACHE II score, modified NUTRIC score, SOFA score, calories of nutrition, and 7 and 28-day mortality were recorded. Multiple logistic regression analysis was applied to identify the risk factors for mortality. The survival benefit of nutrition support as reflected by calories of nutrition in 72 h was evaluated for patients categorized according to their APACHE II, modified NUTRIC, and SOFA scores.

RESULTS

Patients were classified into Grades I (n = 141), II (n = 173), III (n = 48), and IV (n = 17). Significant differences were observed among different AGI grade cohorts (I-IV) in terms of APACHE II, SOFA, and modified NUTRIC scores and calories of enteral nutrition (EN), parenteral nutrition (PN), and EN + PN. Ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that only SOFA score was an independent risk factor for AGI grades (P < 0.001). APACHE II score, mechanical ventilation (MV), AGI grades, and calories of EN + PN intake were independent risk factors for 28-d mortality. Increased nutritional intake was associated with reduced mortality in severely ill patients with APACHE II scores ≥15 (P = 0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

AGI grade affected the intake of calories and was one of the risk factors for 28-d mortality. The nutrition intake of patients with AGI grade III to IV was almost only PN. The positive association between nutrition support and prognosis was more apparent in AGI patients with higher APACHE II scores.