Early enteral nutrition in critically-ill patients

Table 2 Summary of studies on the effects of early enteral nutrition in patients with cardiothoracic disorders including those in the intensive care unit

Ref.	Type of study	Study population	Outcomes
Zheng et al[44], 2025	Retrospective cohort study	1846 patients with cardiogenic shock	EEN was associated with improved survival outcomes and decreased length of hospitalization
Shen et al[45], 2024	Retrospective RCT	720 patients with 4 days or greater CTICU stay	EEN was associated with shorter length of hospital and ICU stay and reduced incidence of respiratory and blood infections
			Better glycemic control and reduced insulin needs
			No significant difference found in long-term survival
Efremov et al[46], 2017	Prospective RCT	40 mechanically ventilated, post-cardiac surgery patients who received either standard isocaloric EEN or calorie-dense, protein-rich EEN	EEN led to reduced requirements for parenteral nutrition
Lu et al[47], 2023	Retrospective review	65 patients, 42 of which received VV-ECMO and 23 whom received VA-ECMO	EEN safe and well-tolerated by patient’s receiving ECMO for more than 24 hours
			EEN associated with higher success rates of weaning off ECMO and reduced mortality
			Delayed EN group to had significantly higher feeding intolerance as compared with the EEN group

RCT: Randomized controlled trial; EEN: Early enteral nutrition; ICU: Intensive care unit; CTICU: Cardiothoracic intensive care unit; ECMO: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; VV-ECMO: Venovenous-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; VA-ECMO: Venoarterial-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.