Primary objective: To examine the evidence on the metabolic state and nutritional treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Research design: A systematic review of the literature.
Methods and procedures: From 1547 citations, 232 articles were identified and retrieved for text screening. Thirty-six studies fulfilled the criteria and 30 were accepted for data extraction.
Main outcomes and results: Variations in measurement methods and definitions of metabolic abnormalities hampered comparison of studies. However, consistent data demonstrated increased metabolic rate (96-160% of the predicted values), of hypercatabolism (-3 to -16 g N per day) and of upper gastrointestinal intolerance in the majority of the patients during the first 2 weeks after injury. Data also indicated a tendency towards less morbidity and mortality in early fed patients.
Conclusions: The impact of timing, content and ways of administration of nutritional support on neurological outcome after TBI remains to be demonstrated.