None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Adequate nutrition is important to allow patients in the Intensive Care Unit the best chance of recovery from their illness. This is usually provided by feeding through a tube into the stomach. Unfortunately, many patients do not get enough nutrients from feeding into the gut, as the stomach and small intestine does not work normally. In these patients, symptoms such as diarrhoea and bloating are also common. We are doing research in this Intensive Care Unit to understand why the gut does not work normally in some patients and how this affects their absorption of nutrients. A greater understanding of how the gut functions during illness is important for treatment and to devise ways to improve the feeding of patients in Intensive Care.
Interventions
A meal will be administered into the small intestine. Small intestinal transit time is measured, using a label in the meal detected by gamma camera. Carbohydrate absorption is also measued, using plasma concentration of 3-O-Methyl-glucose which is an actively absorbed synthetic sugar.
Following the meal measurements will continue for 6 hours for one day only.
In the patient group I anticpate 20 patients will be compared to 10 healthy volunteers. Given most critically ill patients receive op
A meal will be administered into the small intestine. Small intestinal transit time is measured, using a label in the meal detected by gamma camera. Carbohydrate absorption is also measued, using plasma concentration of 3-O-Methyl-glucose which is an actively absorbed synthetic sugar. Following the meal measurements will continue for 6 hours for one day only. In the patient group I anticpate 20 patients will be compared to 10 healthy volunteers. Given most critically ill patients receive opiates for pain relief and/or sedation, patients receiving opiates will be included in the study. However opiate medication is reported to delay small intestinal transit in healthy volunteers. Given the above, 10 patients will be included who are already receiving opiate medication and 10 who are not. If there is a difference between the pre-defined subgroups this would generate the hypothesis that opiate medication does alter small intestinal transit in critical illness, which would then encourage us to test this in a randomised fashion.
Sponsors
Adam Deane
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
17 Years to 90 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
critically ill patients sedated and mechanically ventilated suitable for, or receiving small intestinal nutrition
Exclusion criteria
Pregnancy Any contraindication to placement of a post-pyloric feeding tube contraindication to enteral feeding Previous surgery on the duodenum/small intestine Any gastrointestinal surgery during their current hospital admission Patients receiving erythromycin at an antimicrobial dose
Outcome results
None listed