Effect of scheduled feeding on duration of weaning patients from Mechanical Ventilator (MV) and length of stay in ICU--A clinical trial study

Introduction: Metabolic and nutritional status are influential in the condition of the patients under MV and the ability to separate from it. This study was conducted to determine the effect of scheduled feeding on duration of weaning patients and length of stay in ICU. Methods: In this clinical trial with a post-test design, 42 patients admitted to the ICUs of Golestan and Imam Khomeini hospitals of Ahvaz, Iran who were under MV were randomly assigned to two groups of control and intervention. In the intervention group, Standard Entera Meal solution was used for energy supply. Administration of the solution starts from 50 cc and every 3 hours add 30 cc to reach the calculated energy in 48-72 hours. For the control group, homemade hospital solutions were used according to routine. Data were collected by demographic and medical information questionnaire, and interventions recording checklist then analyzed by using SPSS software version 23. Results: The results showed that the length of stay of patients in ICU was significantly affected by the scheduledfeeding (P = 0.004) and although in this study the duration of weaning patients from MV was numerically shorter in the intervention group than in the control group, but this difference was not statistically significant (5.23 ± 4.77 vs. 7.71 ± 6.14 minutes, P = 0.15). Conclusion: The scheduled nutrition can reduce the length of stay patients in ICU and also duration of weaning from the MV, although it was not statistically significant.