In order to improve results and survival in children receiving extra corporal membranous support (ECMO), nutrition support is crucial. Therefore, for a study, researchers sought to assess the relationship between the beginning of enteral nutrition (EN) and how that affected the results.
Children (≤18 years old) who received veno-arterial ECMO for ≥48 hours between November 2014 and November 2019 retrospectively analyzed their electronic health data. Demographic information, ECMO indication and duration, date of EN commencement, change in weight-for-age z score (WAZ), and survival rate were all included in the abstracted data. In addition, the vasoactive-inotropic score (VIS) was generated to evaluate the severity of the sickness.
They found 76 children (interquartile range [IQR]) of 0.3 years (0–2.6), 46 of them were babies (59%) who needed ECMO for a median (IQR) of 10 days (6–22). Thirty-six patients (or 47%) left the hospital alive. While receiving ECMO, EN was started in 55 (72%) patients. By day 3 of ECMO, EN start was favorably correlated with survival (P=0.0438). Infants who survived had lower VIS at the time of EN beginning (P=0.022). Children who attained enteral autonomy had higher survival rates (P=0.0024). At the end of ECMO, survivors showed higher WAZs (P=0.0004).
A higher chance of survival was linked to the beginning of EN by day 3 of ECMO and at a lower VIS.
Reference: journals.lww.com/jpgn/Abstract/2022/09000/Vasopressors_and_Enteral_Nutrition_in_the_Survival.24.aspx
