Abstract

Purpose
High gastric residual volumes (GRVs) are known to be one of the frequent causes of stopping enteral nutrition. This study was performed to investigate the gastric residual volume status in critically ill patients who were admitted to intensive care units. Methods: The subjects were 96 critically ill patients who were admitted to the ICU at ASAN Medical Center between October 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. The measured volumes were categorized in 50 ml intervals from 0 to 500 ml. Results: Of the total GRVs measured, 46% were ＜50 ml. The patients with a GRV ≥50 ml were 54% and 4% had a GRV ≥250 ml, whereas none of the patients' GRVs were ≥500 ml. When admitted to the hospital, There was a correlation between the APACHE 2 score and the gastric residual volume. This shows that the higher the APACHE 2 score was the gastric residual volume. And there was a correlation between the APACHE 2 score and the loss of calories. This shows that the higher the APACHE 2 score was the loss of calories. Conclusion: The gastric residual volume of the critically ill patients under enteral nutrition in our hospital was not higher than that presented on the guidelines from the US and Canada. In addition, there was a big difference in the gastric residual volume among the critically ill patients depending on their clinical characteristics. Strict criteria for the gastric residual volume could be a factor for inhibiting proactive enteral nutrition. (KJPEN 2009;2(1):24-29)

• Keywords: Gastric residual volume, Enteral nutrition, Intensive care unit