Enteral Immunonutrition and Infection Rates in Critically Ill Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22343583Keywords:
immunonutrition, arginine, glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids, critical illnessAbstract
Background: Enteral formulas enriched with arginine, glutamine, omega-3 fatty acids and nucleotides ("immunonutrition") have
been proposed to reduce nosocomial infection in critical illness, yet trial results remain discordant. Objective: To synthesise
randomised and meta-analytic evidence on immunonutrition and infectious outcomes in the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods:
Narrative review of published randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, and mechanistic studies
identified through PubMed, Embase and Cochrane sources. Findings: Immune-enhancing formulas modestly reduce infectious
complications in mixed surgical/trauma ICU cohorts but show neutral-to-harmful signals in septic and medical patients.
Conclusions: Benefit is population- and component-specific; routine use in unselected medical-surgical ICU patients is not
supported.
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