Trial reportCritical care (London, England)2021
Semi-elemental versus polymeric formula for enteral nutrition in brain-injured critically ill patients: a randomized trial.
Trial report in Critical care (London, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- High-protein supplementation in critically ill patients: a systematic review, meta-analysis and umbrella review of existing evidence.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Strategies to Maximize the Benefits of Evidence-Based Enteral Nutrition: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- The effects of higher versus lower protein delivery in critically ill patients: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials with trial sequential analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Small peptide formulas versus standard polymeric formulas in critically ill patients with acute gastrointestinal injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Pooled it
- The safety and efficacy of probiotic supplementation for critically ill adult patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nutrition reviews · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of higher versus lower protein delivery in critically ill patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Critical care (London, England) · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of enteral nutrition protocols on nutritional indicators and prognosis in neurological ICU patients: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Comparative efficacy of peptide-based versus standard polymeric enteral nutrition in ICU patients at high nutritional risk: a multicenter randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Effects of permissive hypocaloricWorld journal of gastroenterology · 2021Trial
- Gastrointestinal Dysfunction in Critically Ill Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury: Clinical Implications and Putative Mechanisms: a Narrative Review.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2026Review
- Association between enteral formula type and nutritional failure in critically ill children: A single-center retrospective study.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Protein intake and clinical outcomes in critically ill patients: A dose-response and pairwise meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Health promotion perspectives · 2025Review
- The Japanese Critical Care Nutrition Guideline 2024.Journal of intensive care · 2025Review
- Qualitative study on the ability of neurological nurses to manage patients with indwelling gastrointestinal canal.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders Correlate with Intracranial Bleeding, Opioid Use, and Brainstem Edema in Neurosurgical Patients.Neurocritical care · 2023Article
- [Prevalence of diarrhea in adult patients in intensive care and its relationship with ready-to-use enteral formulas]Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Medicas (Cordoba, Argentina) · 2022Article
- Foods for Special Medical Purposes in Home Enteral Nutrition-Clinical Practice Experience. Multicenter Study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Effect of preoperative predigested formula vs. polymeric formula on bowel function recovery after definitive surgery for small intestinal entero-atmospheric fistula in patients with chyme reinfusion.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe properties of semi-elemental enteral nutrition might theoretically improve gastrointestinal tolerance in brain-injured patients, known to suffer gastroparesis. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy and tolerance of a semi-elemental versus a polymeric formula for enteral nutrition (EN) in brain-injured critically ill patients.
methodsProspective, randomized study including brain-injured adult patients [Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) ≤ 8] with an expected duration of mechanical ventilation > 48 h.
interventionan enteral semi-elemental (SE group) or polymeric (P group) formula. EN was started within 36 h after admission to the intensive care unit and was delivered according to a standardized nurse-driven protocol. The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients who received both 60% of the daily energy goal at 3 days and 100% of the daily energy goal at 5 days after inclusion. Tolerance of EN was assessed by the rate of gastroparesis, vomiting and diarrhea.
resultsRespectively, 100 and 95 patients were analyzed in the SE and P groups: Age (57[44-65] versus 55[40-65] years) and GCS (6[3-7] versus 5[3-7]) did not differ between groups. The percentage of patients achieving the primary endpoint was similar (46% and 48%, respectively; relative risk (RR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.05 (0.78-1.42); p = 0.73). The mean daily energy intake was, respectively, 20.2 ± 6.3 versus 21.0 ± 6.5 kcal/kg/day (p = 0.42). Protein intakes were 1.3 ± 0.4 versus 1.1 ± 0.3 g/kg/day (p < 0.0001). Respectively, 18% versus 12% patients presented gastroparesis (p = 0.21), and 16% versus 8% patients suffered from diarrhea (p = 0.11). No patient presented vomiting in either group.
conclusionSemi-elemental compared to polymeric formula did not improve daily energy intake or gastrointestinal tolerance of enteral nutrition.
trial registrationEudraCT/ID-RCB 2012-A00078-35 (registered January 17, 2012).
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.