UNASSIGNED: Elective intestinal anastomosis is a frequently used surgical procedure in pediatric surgery.
UNASSIGNED: This study aimed to compare postoperative complications and hospital stay in children who underwent ileostomy closure with early feeding in the 1st 24 h versus those in whom the oral route was initiated traditionally.
UNASSIGNED: Observational, comparative, cross-sectional, ambispective, and single-center study that included pediatric patients who had undergone ileostomy closure from January 2017 to August 2019.
UNASSIGNED: Data were analyzed in SPSS. Statistical analysis was used: the variables were analyzed using the Chi-square test or Fisher\'s exact test when the former could not be applied.
UNASSIGNED: They were divided into the following two groups: group 1 included patients who started the oral route early (n = 25) and Group 2 included patients who started the oral route late (n = 20). The average in-hospital stay for Group 1 was 5.48 days and that for Group 2 was 8.35 days. In Group 1, the oral route was started with a mean of 9.32 h and in Group 2 at 146.4 h. Those in Group 1 at 32.9 h presented their first evacuation and Group 2 at 131.45 h. Group 1 reached their normal diet on average at 79.96 h and Group 2 at 172.8 h.
UNASSIGNED: This comparison between early oral feeding and traditional oral feeding suggests that various benefits exist when enteral nutrition is initiated early after ileostomy closure in pediatric patients. The benefits and importance of initiating early oral feeding in adults have been reported, but there are few studies on pediatric populations.

This is a Commentary on \"Enhanced Enteral Feeding Versus Traditional Feeding in Neonatal Congenital Gastrointestinal Malformation Undergoing Intestinal Anastomosis: A Randomized Multicenter Controlled Trial of an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Component\" by Peng Y, Xiao D, Xiao S, et al.

OBJECTIVE: the aim of this clinical trial was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of early enteral feeding (EEN) following intestinal anastomosis in neonates with congenital gastrointestinal malformation.
METHODS: a multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial (registered under chictr.org.cn Identifier no.ChiCTR-INR-17014179) was conducted between 2018 and 2019. Four centers in China analyzed 156 newborns of congenital gastrointestinal malformation undergoing intestinal anastomosis to EEN group (n = 78) or control (C) group (n = 78). The primary outcomes of this study were length of postoperative stay (LOPS) and time to full feeds. Secondary outcomes included morbidity of complications, parenteral nutrition (PN) duration, feeding intolerance, 30 day mortality rate and 30 day readmission rate.
RESULTS: the mean time to full feeds and LOPS in the EEN group were 15.0 (9.8-22.8) days and 17.6 (12.0-29.8) days, while that were 18.0 (12.0-24.0) days and 20.0 (15.0-30.3) days in C groups respectively. There was no significant difference between two groups(P >0.05). No significant intergroup difference was found with respect to postoperative morbidity, PN duration or feeding intolerance(P >0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: early enteral feeding following intestinal anastomosis in neonates with congenital gastrointestinal malformation is safe. Post-operative outcomes demonstrated a trend toward improvement.
METHODS: Level Ⅰ.

Background: Early intervention with enteral nutrition (EN) is the standard of care in many medical intensive care units (ICUs). However, few studies have addressed the use of early EN for critically ill patients in the cardiac ICU (CICU). In this study we explored the indications for early EN for patients admitted to a CICU. Methods and Results: This retrospective observational study included 63 consecutive patients admitted to the CICU who were diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Early EN was initiated in these patients as per the hospital\'s nutrition protocol. Mean Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores at admission were 18.8 and 9.1, respectively. All patients were admitted to the medical CICU with a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease and/or cardiopulmonary arrest. Enteral feeding was initiated in 59 patients (94%) within 5 days of admission. Fifty-two patients (83%) achieved the energy intake goal at Day 7 of their CICU admission either by enteral feeding or oral intake; 49 patients (78%) survived to time of discharge. The patients experienced several minor complications, including minor reflux (4 patients; 6%) and diarrhea (8 patients; 13%). None of the patients developed aspiration pneumonia or bowel ischemia. Conclusions: The present retrospective observational study indicates that early EN for critically ill patients in a medical CICU can be achieved safely with no major complications.

OBJECTIVE: Delayed enteral feeding (DEF) contributes to postoperative complications among children undergoing intestinal surgery. Various recent studies indicate the benefits of early enteral nutrition after intestinal surgery in adults. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluates whether early enteral feeding (EEF) is beneficial in children who underwent intestinal anastomosis.
METHODS: MEDLINE, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases were searched for RCTs that addressed the effect of EEF in children (younger than 18 years old) undergoing intestinal anastomosis. EEF was defined as starting enteral feeding before the 3rd postoperative day. Studies were selected based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 to estimate odds ratios (ORs) or mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
RESULTS: Four RCT studies met the inclusion criteria, comprising 97 cases with EEF and 89 cases with DEF. Enteral feeding started significantly earlier in the EEF group compared to the DEF group (MD = - 2.80; 95% CI - 3.11 to - 2.49; p < 0.00001). Postoperative anastomotic leak rate was unchanged between EEF and DEF groups (OR = 0.86; 95% CI 0.17-4.46; p = 0.86). The EEF group had a shorter length of hospital stay (MD = - 3.38; 95% CI - 4.29 to - 2.48; p < 0.00001), earlier time to bowel movement return (MD = - 0.57; 95% CI - 0.79 to - 0.35; p < 0.00001), lower incidence of surgical infection (OR = 0.27; 95% CI 0.08-0.90; p = 0.03), and faster tolerance of full enteral feeding (MD = - 2.00; 95% CI - 3.01 to - 2.79; p < 0.00001). Incidence of fever (OR = 0.37; 95% CI 0.10-1.31; p = 0.12), emesis, and abdominal distention (OR = 0.63; 95% CI 0.13-3.16; p = 0.58) were not different between the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Early enteral feeding after intestinal anastomosis in children does not increase the risk of postoperative anastomotic leak, fever, emesis, and abdominal distention. However, early enteral feeding is beneficial as it promotes the return of bowel function, reduces the length of hospital stay and the incidence of surgical infection in comparison to delayed enteral feeding.

Early mobilisation and early enteral feeding after burn injury are two of the most important treatment therapies for optimal recovery. These factors form a part of a team approach, but research has historically focused on one discipline at a time and its effects in isolation; integrated inter-disciplinary influences are not typically studied. This observational study combines strategies and outcomes from the disciplines of nutrition and physiotherapy in an attempt to part-way exemplify the team approach.
Patients were recruited through the Burns Unit records and divided into two groups: Group 1 constituted burn patients who were mobilised before surgery and Group 2 constituted burn patients who were mobilised after surgery.
Patients mobilised after surgery had significantly greater burn surface area, significantly fewer days to wait for surgery (3.4 vs 6.9 days, p < 0.01), significantly more days to mobilise after burn injury (13 vs 2.3 days, p < 0.05), and significantly more time to achieve independent mobilization (42 vs 19.5 days, p < 0.05); they had a significantly longer stay in intensive care (10.8 vs 4.1 days, p < 0.05), and a longer hospital stay (p < 0.05). These patients also had significantly greater episodes of diarrhoea (11.6 vs 4.1 episodes, p < 0.05), significantly lower albumin levels and more days on antibiotics compared with the group of patients who were mobilised before surgery (p < 0.05). Patients mobilised after surgery waited longer to be enterally fed (89 days vs 62.5 days), and although this was not statistically significant, it may be clinically significant. There were significant correlations between independent mobilisation and diarrhoea, independent mobilisation and albumin, length of stay and diarrhoea (p < 0.05). Regression analysis showed hours taken to commence enteral feeding and days in ICU predicted diarrhoea (p < 0.05).
This study illustrates the combined approach of two disciplines and their interrelated factors. Mobilisation appears to interrelate with nutrition factors, and this includes diarrhoea (which is likely a manifestation of gut effects due to the nature and timing of substrate delivery). A few factors were revealed in this interrelation that have not been documented previously in burns, namely the associations between mobilisation, diarrhoea, and serum albumin. Team members need to ensure inclusion of key recommendations from other disciplines when a particular, crucial factor from one discipline cannot be applied. Results in this study need to be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size, the use of statistical applications with sample size, and the retrospective nature of the study. A larger, more rigorous prospective research study is required to confirm these results.

Management of burns is an often-neglected area in training from undergraduate to specialist level. There is, however, a high burden of injury that affects a largely vulnerable population, for example, children, the elderly and epileptics. This CPD article highlights that first aid should include cooling the burn with cool running tap water up to 3-hours post injury (Burnshield may be used if cool running water is not available); removal of all blisters facilitates accurate assessment of the burn size and depth; formulas exist for the resuscitation of acute burn injuries of more than 10% - 15% total body surface area and prophylactic antibiotics should not be administered to patients with acute burns as the prevention of infection should lie with good wound care (including good wound cleaning and the use of topical antimicrobial dressings). A standardised approach to pain management with an incremental pharmacological approach should be followed whilst considering other issues such as neuropathic pain, anxiety and depression.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether early enteral nutrition alone may be sufficient prophylaxis against stress-related gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in mechanically ventilated patients.
METHODS: Prospective, double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, exploratory study that included mechanically ventilated patients in medical ICUs of two academic hospitals. Intravenous pantoprazole and early enteral nutrition were compared to placebo and early enteral nutrition as stress-ulcer prophylaxis. The incidences of clinically significant and overt GI bleeding were compared in the two groups.
RESULTS: 124 patients were enrolled in the study. After exclusion of 22 patients, 102 patients were included in analysis: 55 patients in the treatment group and 47 patients in the placebo group. Two patients (one from each group) showed signs of overt GI bleeding (overall incidence 1.96%), and both patients experienced a drop of >3 points in hematocrit in a 24-hour period indicating a clinically significant GI bleed. There was no statistical significant difference in the incidence of overt or significant GI bleeding between groups (p=0.99).
CONCLUSIONS: We found no benefit when pantoprazole is added to early enteral nutrition in mechanically ventilated critically ill patients. The routine prescription of acid-suppressive therapy in critically ill patients who tolerate early enteral nutrition warrants further evaluation.