Milan, April 9 (beraking latest news Health) – Adequate nutrition can make the difference between life and death for Covid-19 patients admitted to intensive care. An Italian study, conducted during the first pandemic wave on 222 patients between the Policlinico San Matteo in Pavia and the Policlinico di Milano, shows that “adequate nutritional support in the first 4 days of hospitalization can reduce the number of deaths”. The work, published in ‘Clinical Nutrition’, is presented by the two Lombard Irccs as “the first of its kind in Covid patients in the international literature”.
The goal of the authors, a group of clinicians and researchers from the Milanese and Pavia polyclinics, was “to verify the relationship between nutritional intake and clinical outcome, also taking into consideration different factors, such as obesity”. The research involved Covid-19 patients hospitalized in the intensive care units of the two hospitals, all in respiratory assistance. The scholars observed that “those who were able to receive nutritional support within the first 4 days of hospitalization, mainly enterally, adequate to the estimated caloric needs, showed a lower mortality”. The results also confirmed that “moderate obesity is associated with a higher mortality risk, while severe obesity also appears to involve a significant delay in weaning from invasive artificial ventilation”.
“Adopting an ad hoc nutritional therapy for Covid-19 patients undergoing invasive mechanical ventilation, as much as possible in line with the recommendations of international scientific societies, is an element of fundamental importance for the reduction of mortality and the improvement of clinical results, “recommend the researchers.
“Guaranteeing adequate nutritional support to patients in intensive care is, even today, often problematic due to the severity of the clinical and metabolic conditions of hospitalized patients, even more so in a complex pathology such as Covid-19 – says Riccardo Caccialanza, director of the ” Complex operational unit of clinical nutrition of the Irccs Policlinico San Matteo di Pavia Foundation – The ideal methods and timing of nutrient administration are still the subject of scientific debate, but our results underline that it is of fundamental importance to try to best meet the needs nutritional in the shortest possible time in all patients, including obese ones “, explains the expert.
“We are extremely satisfied with the results obtained thanks to the collaboration established with the colleagues of the Polyclinic of Milan”, he adds, hoping “that our collaboration will continue in the future, to evaluate the effectiveness of innovative nutritional protocols aimed at improving the quality of the care”.
“We are proud to have participated in this study – says Giacomo Grasselli, Head of Adult Intensive Care and Intensive Care at the Irccs Ca ‘Granda Foundation, Maggiore hospital in Milan – which adds an important piece to our knowledge on the treatment of patients with Covid-19. Our research confirms that attention to nutritional intake is of fundamental importance in the management of all critically ill patients. For this reason, collaboration between intensivists and clinical nutrition specialists must be encouraged as much as possible, with a view to multidisciplinary and shared management of patients admitted to intensive care “.