[Prevalence of diarrhea in adult patients in intensive care and its relationship with ready-to-use enteral formulas].

Introduction: Diarrhea is a frequent complication in critically ill patients. Its origin is multifactorial. The objective of this work is to analyze the relationship between 5 ready-to-use formulas and the development of diarrhea in critically ill patients.

Methods: Retrospective study where the volume of the stools of 315 patients and the presence of diarrhea defined with a cut-off point of a volume of 250 ml/day were evaluated. 35.34% of the patients presented diarrhea with said cut-off point. The mean volume of stools was 269.20 ml (95% CI: 255.05-283.06).

Results: It was observed that all the formulas analyzed had a slight correlation with the Spearman test between the volume provided and the volume of stools, being: Nutricia Nutrison ® (R: 0.159; P: 0.053), Nutricia Multifibra ® (R: 0.296; <0.001), Nutricia Peptisorb ® (R: 0.323; P<0.001), Nutricia Protison ® (R: 0.108; P<0.001), Fresenius Supportan ® (R: 0.152; P<0.001). Multivariate analysis was performed and it was observed that there were no differences in the incidence of diarrhea between the different enteral formulas during the first 10 days. The change of formulas during hospitalization would be a predisposing factor for diarrhea.

Conclusion: Therefore, the formula and the volume provided are factors that could influence whether patients have diarrhoea. Understanding these possible influences in a deeper way will allow the safest choice of enteral formulas for a patient with diarrhea.