Does enteral nutrition protect against stress ulceration in the critically ill?

Purpose of review: Critically ill patients are at risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) due to stress ulceration. Strategies to reduce the risk include administration of prophylactic ulcer healing medications. Enteral nutrition (EN) may be favourably associated with GIB risks. This manuscript summarizes available evidence regarding EN effects on GIB.

Recent findings: There are few data available to directly compare the effect of EN on GIB. Direct comparison in animal models generally indicate a beneficial effect. Human data provide indirect evidence from pharmacological stress ulcer prophylaxis studies. EN exposure has been randomized in nutrition trials of critically ill patients, but GIB outcomes were not recorded. Detailed EN exposure data were recorded in two large pharmacological stress ulcer trials. One finds EN is associated with lower GIB, lower mortality, and increased pneumonia, and notes a possible interaction between EN and pharmacological stress ulcer prophylaxis. The second has yet to report associations with EN.

Summary: EN may reduce the risk of GIB, although robust direct evidence is absent. Potential interactions between EN and pharmacological stress ulcer prophylaxis require further study.