Varsha Asrani: Gastrointestinal Dysfunction in Critical Illness

Gastrointestinal dysfunction occurs in up to 60% of intensive care patients and almost 20% suffer from three or more gastrointestinal symptoms. Persistent GDF in this setting results in the enteral feed delivery of less than half of the estimated caloric requirement in these patients putting them at risk of hospital-acquired acute malnutrition and adverse complications including organ failure. The role of the gut in the genesis of organ failure has been recognised for decades. Gut injury occurs in many intensive care patients, where splanchnic vasoconstriction is present to maintain perfusion of heart, lungs, kidney, liver and brain. The intestine is extremely sensitive to ischaemia, and this results in hyperinflammatory response secondary to gut hypoperfusion leading to mucosal atrophy, increase in intestinal permeability, bacterial overgrowth and translocation. This prioritisation of blood flow away from the gut has consequences.   To watch the lecture, and learn more about the speaker, please visit https://www.continulus.com