PPT Slide
Results of literature review
Reference: Heyland DK, Novak F, Drover JW, Jain M, Su X, Suchner U. Should immunonutrition become routine in critically ill patients? A systematic review of the evidence. JAMA 2001;286:944-53.
Patients type / studies included: total of 22 RCTs with 2,419 critically ill and elective Sx pts: 9 studies of 1,030 elective surgery pts comparing standard EN to EN supplemented with immune-enhancing nutrients (arginine, glutamine, omega-3 fas, fish oil and nucleotides)
Best Level of Evidence: Level II Internal validity score: 6 / 6
Areas for concern:
- no internal validity concerns
- analysis was conducted on critically ill and Sx pts separately (planned a priori and driven by significant heterogeneity between results)