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Clinical nutrition

Intermittent versus continuous tube feeding in patients with hemorrhagic stroke: a randomized controlled clinical trial

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 74, pages 1420–1427 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background

The arguments about whether intermittent or continuous tube feeding was preferred in patients with hemorrhagic stroke exist yet. This study aimed to examine the effects of intermittent versus continuous tube feeding on its intolerance performance and efficiency of calorie intake.

Method

A convenience sample was selected from January 2018 to January 2019 in the Neurosurgery Department of West China Hospital, Sichuan Province. The participants were randomly allocated to either intermittent or continuous tube feeding group, fed four times or 24 h a day using electric feeding pump, respectively. The incidence of the intolerance and calorie intake were recorded and analyzed.

Results

78 patients took part in this study: 40 in the intermittent group and 38 in the continuous group. The incidence of the diarrhea was significantly lower in the continuous group (7.9 vs 37.5%, p = 0.002). The total intolerance rate was significantly lower in the continuous group compared with the intermittent group (63.2 vs 85.0%, p = 0.027). There was no significant difference in calorie intake between the intermittent and continuous group during the first 3 days (2595.4 ± 394.5 kcal vs 2317.8 ± 645.1 kcal, p = 0.099). No significant difference in total calorie intake was found between two groups (6265.6 ± 1261.3 kcal vs 6429.4 ± 1452.4 kcal, p = 0.597).

Conclusion

Continuous tube feeding was an effective way to improve the tolerance of enteral nutrition. But no enough evidence was found to support the advantage in calorie intake of continuous tube feeding in this study.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2: Calorie intake of the two feeding methods.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks for the support from all participants and their legal guardians. And we will give our thanks for the clinical practice help to RN Yan Wang and RN Min Tang from Neurosurgery Department in West China Hospital, Sichuan University.

Funding

This study was funded by Health Commission of Sichuan Province (18ZD032).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Yan Jiang, Jiping Li

Authors and Affiliations

  1. West China School of Nursing/West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Wei Zhu

  2. West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Yan Jiang & Jiping Li

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  1. Wei Zhu
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Contributions

WZ was responsible for study design, screening potentially eligible patients, data analysis, and paper drafting. YJ was responsible for study design, funding application, revising manuscript, and correspondence to editor. JPL was responsible for study design, funding application, revising manuscript, and correspondence to editor.

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Correspondence to Yan Jiang or Jiping Li.

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Zhu, W., Jiang, Y. & Li, J. Intermittent versus continuous tube feeding in patients with hemorrhagic stroke: a randomized controlled clinical trial. Eur J Clin Nutr 74, 1420–1427 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0579-6

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