Nutrition in the Critically Ill Pediatric Patient

This webinar will focus on the nutritional care of the pediatric critically ill patient. Specifically, nuances in the nutritional management of the premature and critically ill neonate and older child will be discussed. The timing of parenteral nutrition can promote nitrogen balance and in the neonate can result in improved growth at discharge. Early provision of human milk has been shown to result in an earlier discharge and reduce the likelihood of necrotizing enterocolitis, chronic lung disease, late onset sepsis, and retinopathy of prematurity in the neonatal population. Strategies to promote feeding protocols and evaluate priorities during periods of critical illness are key to streamlining nutritional care and quality. The right amount of energy and protein delivery during this period of vulnerability and its relationship to outcomes has been shown in multiple settings. In addition, the particular nutrition ramifications of long-term critical illness in children and methods for measuring, preventing and counteracting these effects will be addressed.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the rationale for early parenteral nutrition and optimization of human milk enteral feeding in the neonate
• Summarize findings of recent literature related to enteral and parenteral nutrition in the PICU
• Discuss optimal energy and protein goals for critically ill children with a particular attention to outcome measures in pediatric nutritional research