title: Enteral nutrition in the critically ill: myths and misconceptions.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nutritional support is an essential component of the management of critically ill and injured ICU patients. Optimal provision of calories and protein has been demonstrated to reduce morbidity, mortally, and length of ICU and hospital stay. Yet, a large proportion of ICU patients receive inadequate nutrition.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To provide an evidence-base assessment of factors leading to inadequate enteral nutrition support in critically ill patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Search of PubMed database and manual review of bibliographies from selected articles.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A number of common myths and misconceptions appear to play a major role in limiting the provision of enteral nutrition in the critically ill. This article provides scientific data to debunk the most common myths and misconceptions related to enteral nutrition.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA.
authors.forename: Paul E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Marik
mesh_terms: D016638:Critical Illness / Q000628:therapy*; D013505:Digestive System Surgical Procedures; D002149:Energy Intake; D004750:Enteral Nutrition / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D045823:Ileus / Q000453:epidemiology; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007902:Length of Stay; D009752:Nutritional Status; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D013997:Time Factors; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents