Measurements of enteral feeding intolerance in critically ill children: a scoping review

Yan Li; Cong-Hui Fu; Min-Jie Ju; Ji Liu; Xiao-Ya Yang; Ting-Ting Xu

doi:10.3389/fped.2024.1441171

Measurements of enteral feeding intolerance in critically ill children: a scoping review

Front Pediatr. 2024 Oct 10:12:1441171. doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1441171. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yan Li^{1

2}, Cong-Hui Fu^{1

2}, Min-Jie Ju^{1

2}, Ji Liu^{1

2}, Xiao-Ya Yang^{1

2}, Ting-Ting Xu^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Critical Care Medicine, Shanghai Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Nursing, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Nursing, Shanghai Children's Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the measurements on enteral feeding intolerance (EFI) in critically ill children.

Methods: The Joanna Briggs Institute methods for conducting a scoping review were followed. Articles published since 2004 which assessed EFI in critically ill children were identified. A full search strategy was executed in seven English databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, JBI EBP, CINAHL) and four Chinese databases (CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, Sinomed). Two reviewers screened records according to our inclusion and exclusion criteria, and conducted a full-text review of selected articles. The reference lists of all studied selected were screened for additional sources. Relevant data was extracted using a researcher-developed tool.

Results: Of the 627 articles identified, 32 were included in this scoping review. Most articles focused on the measurement of high gastric residual volume (n = 22), followed by diarrhea (n = 20), and vomiting (n = 9). Most of the studies were of observational-analytic design (13/32) and experimental design (8/32).

Conclusion: This scoping review addressed the complexity and diversity of EFI measurements. Given the importance of adequacy of enteral nutrient intake, we highlighted the necessary to develop individual measurements of EFI, taking the age of children and disease condition into consideration. Further studies can also investigate accurate and objective physiological measurements of EFI to advance EN and improve outcomes in critically ill children.

Keywords: child; critical care nursing; enteral nutrition; feeding intolerance; review; symptom assessment.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The work was supported by research grants from Scientific Research Program of Shanghai Nursing Association (Grant 2022QN-B01) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine: Nursing Development Program (Grant [2023] No. 3). The study sponsor was not involved in the design of the study, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, writing the report, or the decision to submit the report for publication.