Energy requirements of long-term ventilated COVID-19 patients with resolved SARS-CoV-2 infection

COVID-19 can rapidly progress into acute respiratory distress syndrome accompanied by multi-organ failure requiring invasive mechanical ventilation and critical care treatment.

Nutritional therapy is a fundamental pillar in the management of hospitalized patients. It is broadly acknowledged that overfeeding and underfeeding of intensive care unit (ICU) patients are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to assess the energy demands of long-term ventilated COVID-19 patients using indirect calorimetry and to evaluate the applicability of established predictive equations to estimate their energy expenditure.

This study presents data from three independent intensive care units from a retrospective cohort of COVID-19 patients. IC was performed by trained operators during clinical routine following established recommendations using a Q-NRG+ calorimeter (COSMED, Rome, Italy).

The findings suggest that predictive equations carry a high risk of over- and underfeeding due to poor agreement with mREE; the intra-variability of a patient's caloric requirements may vary during the clinical course, which many formulas cannot capture. None of the equations under investigation can sufficiently replace IC.

Article details:

- Title: Energy requirements of long-term ventilated COVID-19 patients with resolved SARS-CoV-2 infection
- Authors: Janusz von Renesse, Simone von Bonin, Hanns-Christoph Held, Jürgen Weitz, Thilo Welsch, Ronny Meisterfeld et al.
- Published in: Clinical Nutrition ESPEN - 28 June 2021
- Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2021.06.016