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Effects of Enteral Nutrients on the Critically Ill Gut

  • Chapter
Metabolic Support of the Critically Ill Patient

Part of the book series: Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine ((UICM,volume 17))

Abstract

Traditional teachings state that the gut is quiescent in the critically ill patient. These teachings, however, are undergoing rigorous scientific scrutiny. It is now known that the gut is both physiologically and metabolically active despite the presence of critical illness. Moreover, recent investigations have shown that enteral nutrients, and in some instances the provision of entero- cyte and colonocyte fuels, enhance structure and function of the intestine during stress and disease. This chapter reviews the structure and function of the normal intestinal epithelium and the adverse effects of critical illness on the gut. In addition, the role of enteral nutrients in preventing and treating these adverse effects is discussed. This information in part has been reviewed in a previous report from our laboratory (Lew JI and Rombeau JL, unpublished data).

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Authors
  1. J. I. Lew
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  2. J. L. Rombeau
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Surgical Metabolism, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 75 Francis Street, Boston, Massachussetts, 02115, USA

    Douglas W. Wilmore

  2. L. Deloyers Laboratory for Experimental Surgery, Free University of Brussels, Avenue J. Wybran 40, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Yvon A. Carpentier

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Lew, J.I., Rombeau, J.L. (1993). Effects of Enteral Nutrients on the Critically Ill Gut. In: Wilmore, D.W., Carpentier, Y.A. (eds) Metabolic Support of the Critically Ill Patient. Update in Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, vol 17. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-85011-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-85011-0_10

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-85011-0

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