[Analysis of the current status and influencing factors of enteral nutrition intolerance in intensive care unit patients].

Objective: To investigate the current status and influencing factors of feeding intolerance (FI) during enteral nutrition (EN) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients.

Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted, including patients from two ICU wards of a tertiary hospital in Guizhou Province from July 2019 to December 2022. Clinical data were collected using a self-designed data collection form, including general information [age, gender, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II)], clinical treatment (mechanical ventilation, mild hypothermia therapy), medication use (vasoactive drugs, glucocorticoids, analgesics, sedatives), EN implementation (types of EN fluids, EN methods, tube feeding rate), EN tolerance, and blood glucose status. Patients were divided into EN tolerance and EN intolerance groups based on the FI criteria. Differences in the above-mentioned indicators between the two groups were compared, and statistically significant indicators were included in a binary multivariate Logistic regression analysis to explore the independent influencing factors of FI during EN in ICU patients.

Results: A total of 683 ICU patients were included, with 57.10% (390/683) incidence of FI during EN. The most common FI symptom was diarrhea (41.58%), followed by gastric retention, reflux, abdominal distension, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, and aspiration, with blood in stool being the least common (3.37%). Compared to the EN tolerance group, the EN intolerance group had significantly higher proportions of patients aged ≥60 years, undergoing mechanical ventilation, receiving analgesic and sedative medications, having hyperglycemia, using short-peptide EN fluids, receiving continuous EN, and having a feeding rate > 40 mL/h (all P < 0.05). The binary multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that age ≥60 years [odds ratio (OR) = 1.738, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 1.241-2.436, P = 0.001], continuous EN (OR = 0.534, 95%CI was 0.377-0.756, P < 0.001), use of analgesic medications (OR = 1.701, 95%CI was 1.139-2.539, P = 0.009), hyperglycemic state (OR = 2.794, 95%CI was 1.999-3.907, P < 0.001), and tube feeding rate > 40 mL/h (OR = 1.018, 95%CI was 1.009-1.027, P < 0.001) were independent risk factors for FI during EN in ICU patients.

Conclusions: The incidence of FI during EN in ICU patients is relatively high and influenced by age, EN methods, analgesic medications, hyperglycemic state, and tube feeding rate. Therefore, healthcare professionals need to accurately identify the risk factors for FI and actively implement effective intervention measures to reduce the incidence of FI and improve patient outcomes.