Patients Who Receive Enteral Nutrition for at Least 72 Hours in the Intensive Care Unit Will be Included in the StudyEFI-ICUNCT07780734
FACTORS AFFECTİNG ENTERAL FEEDİNG INTOLERANCE İN INTENSİVE CARE UNİT PATİENTS
An observational study of Patients Who Receive Enteral Nutrition for at Least 72 Hours in the Intensive Care Unit Will be Included in the Study, run by Eda Cirit Bardakçi.
Trial summary
Enteral nutrition is the first-line nutritional support method in critically ill patients because it helps preserve gastrointestinal system integrity, reduce the risk of infection, and meet metabolic requirements. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Patients Who Receive Enteral Nutrition for at Least 72 Hours in the Intensive Care Unit Will be Included in the Study
- How many people
- 102 participants
- Where
- No sites listed yet
- Study dates
- 15 Nov 2026to 31 Dec 2026
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Study population: The study population will consist of adult patients aged 18 years or older who are admitted to the Anesthesiology and Reanimation Intensive Care Unit of Ankara Atatürk Sanatoryum Training and Research Hospital and who are started on enteral nutrition. Patients will be prospectively screened and consecutively enrolled if they meet all inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria.
Who may be able to join
- Age ≥18 years
- Admission to the Anesthesia Intensive Care Unit
- Enteral nutrition planned or initiated during intensive care unit admission
- Expected to require enteral nutrition during intensive care unit follow-up
- Availability of sufficient clinical and nutritional data for study evaluation
- Patient or legally authorized representative provides informed consent when required by the ethics protocol
Who cannot join
- Age <18 years
- Patients receiving only parenteral nutrition
- Patients in whom enteral nutrition is contraindicated throughout the observation period
- Patients with insufficient data for evaluation of enteral feeding tolerance
- Patients transferred to another intensive care unit before adequate study assessment
- Patients who decline participation or whose legally authorized representative declines participation when consent is required
Trial locations and contacts
No sites are listed yet. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
About this study
Official title: FACTORS AFFECTİNG ENTERAL FEEDİNG INTOLERANCE İN INTENSİVE CARE UNİT PATİENTS: A PROSPECTİVE OBSERVATİONAL STUDY
Enteral nutrition is the first-line nutritional support method in critically ill patients because it helps preserve gastrointestinal system integrity, reduce the risk of infection, and meet metabolic requirements. However, gastrointestinal motility is frequently impaired in critically ill patients due to physiological stress, hemodynamic instability, sedative and vasopressor medications, mechanical ventilation, and underlying diseases. This may result in enteral feeding intolerance (EFI), which complicates nutritional management.
This prospective observational study aims to determine the demographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment-related factors associated with enteral feeding intolerance in adult intensive care unit patients and to evaluate the association between enteral feeding intolerance and morbidity and mortality.
Read more
Adult patients who are started on enteral nutrition in the Anesthesiology and Reanimation Intensive Care Unit will be prospectively followed. No additional intervention will be performed. Patients will be monitored according to routine intensive care and enteral nutrition protocols. Enteral feeding intolerance and potentially associated factors will be recorded prospectively.
The study is planned to include 102 patients.
Read the detailed description
Enteral nutrition is an important component of nutritional support in critically ill patients. However, enteral feeding intolerance is frequently observed in intensive care units and may result from impaired gastrointestinal motility associated with critical illness, hemodynamic instability, sedative and vasopressor use, mechanical ventilation, and underlying diseases.
In this study, demographic, clinical, laboratory, physiological, nutritional, and treatment-related variables that may affect the development of enteral feeding intolerance will be evaluated prospectively.
All adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit who are planned to receive enteral nutrition will be screened daily. Patients meeting the eligibility criteria will be enrolled after informed consent has been obtained from the patient or legally authorized representative.
Because this is an observational study, there will be no randomization and no investigator-assigned intervention. Patients will be classified according to their natural clinical course into an enteral feeding intolerance group and a non-enteral feeding intolerance group.
Demographic characteristics, admission diagnosis, APACHE II, SOFA, and Glasgow Coma Scale scores will be recorded. Daily clinical variables including bowel sounds, presence of stool, sedation, opioid use, vasopressor requirement, sepsis, and aspiration pneumonia will also be recorded.
Routine laboratory parameters including total protein, albumin, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, lactate, hemoglobin, leukocyte count, and lymphocyte count will be obtained from the hospital electronic medical record twice weekly according to routine clinical practice.
The modified Nutrition Risk in Critically Ill (mNUTRIC) score and Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) will be calculated. Mechanical ventilation characteristics, enteral nutrition initiation time, formula type, daily energy and protein targets, delivered amounts, and interruptions of enteral nutrition will be recorded.
Enteral feeding intolerance will be assessed according to predefined criteria and international recommendations. The following findings will be considered enteral feeding intolerance: vomiting, a single gastric residual volume greater than 250 mL, a 24-hour gastric residual volume greater than 500 mL, abdominal distension, and suspected aspiration.
Gastric residual volume will be measured by intensive care nurses using a 50-mL syringe according to the standard intensive care unit protocol.
Intra-abdominal pressure will be measured twice weekly as part of routine intensive care practice using the Foley bladder pressure measurement technique.
All study data will be obtained from routine clinical records, laboratory results, enteral nutrition monitoring charts, ventilator records, and the hospital electronic medical record. No additional invasive procedure, imaging study, surgical procedure, or other intervention will be performed for research purposes.
- Keywords
- Enteral Nutrition, Enteral Feeding Intolerance, Intensive Care Unit,
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Occurrence of Enteral Feeding Intolerance
Enteral feeding intolerance will be defined by the presence of at least one predefined clinical criterion: vomiting, a single gastric residual volume greater than 250 mL, 24-hour cumulative gastric residual volume greater than 500 mL, abdominal distension, or clinical suspicion of aspiration related to enteral feeding.
Measured: 7 days
Secondary outcomes (1)
Achievement of Energy Target
The proportion of prescribed or calculated daily energy target actually delivered through enteral nutrition. Achievement of ≥70-80% of the calculated daily energy target will be considered adequate.
Measured: 3 days
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted21 Aug 2026
- Study start15 Nov 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion1 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Patients Who Receive Enteral Nutrition for at Least 72 Hours in the Intensive Care Unit Will be Included in the StudyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 102 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Eda Cirit Bardakçi
- Sponsor type
- Other government
- Responsible party
- Sponsor-investigator, Eda Cirit Bardakçi, Ankara Ataturk Sanatorium Training and Research Hospital
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07780734
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2024-BCEK/483
- Acronym
- EFI-ICU
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 12 Aug 2026
- Last updated
- 4 Nov 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 4 Nov 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- FACTORS AFFECTİNG ENTERAL FEEDİNG INTOLERANCE İN INTENSİVE CARE UNİT PATİENTS: A PROSPECTİVE OBSERVATİONAL STUDY
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07780734
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- EFI-ICU / 2024-BCEK/483
- Keywords
- Enteral Nutrition, Enteral Feeding Intolerance, Intensive Care Unit,
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 102 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Eda Cirit BardakçiOther government
- Study start
- 15 Nov 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 1 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 21 Aug 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Enteral nutrition is the first-line nutritional support method in critically ill patients because it helps preserve gastrointestinal system integrity, reduce the risk of infection, and meet metabolic requirements. However, gastrointestinal motility is frequently impaired in critically ill patients due to physiological stress, hemodynamic instability, sedative and vasopressor medications, mechanical ventilation, and underlying diseases. This may result in enteral feeding intolerance (EFI), which complicates nutritional management.
This prospective observational study aims to determine the demographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment-related factors associated with enteral feeding intolerance in adult intensive care unit patients and to evaluate the association between enteral feeding intolerance and morbidity and mortality.
Adult patients who are started on enteral nutrition in the Anesthesiology and Reanimation Intensive Care Unit will be prospectively followed. No additional intervention will be performed. Patients will be monitored according to routine intensive care and enteral nutrition protocols. Enteral feeding intolerance and potentially associated factors will be recorded prospectively.
The study is planned to include 102 patients.
Detailed description
Enteral nutrition is an important component of nutritional support in critically ill patients. However, enteral feeding intolerance is frequently observed in intensive care units and may result from impaired gastrointestinal motility associated with critical illness, hemodynamic instability, sedative and vasopressor use, mechanical ventilation, and underlying diseases.
In this study, demographic, clinical, laboratory, physiological, nutritional, and treatment-related variables that may affect the development of enteral feeding intolerance will be evaluated prospectively.
All adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit who are planned to receive enteral nutrition will be screened daily. Patients meeting the eligibility criteria will be enrolled after informed consent has been obtained from the patient or legally authorized representative.
Because this is an observational study, there will be no randomization and no investigator-assigned intervention. Patients will be classified according to their natural clinical course into an enteral feeding intolerance group and a non-enteral feeding intolerance group.
Demographic characteristics, admission diagnosis, APACHE II, SOFA, and Glasgow Coma Scale scores will be recorded. Daily clinical variables including bowel sounds, presence of stool, sedation, opioid use, vasopressor requirement, sepsis, and aspiration pneumonia will also be recorded.
Routine laboratory parameters including total protein, albumin, C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, lactate, hemoglobin, leukocyte count, and lymphocyte count will be obtained from the hospital electronic medical record twice weekly according to routine clinical practice.
The modified Nutrition Risk in Critically Ill (mNUTRIC) score and Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) will be calculated. Mechanical ventilation characteristics, enteral nutrition initiation time, formula type, daily energy and protein targets, delivered amounts, and interruptions of enteral nutrition will be recorded.
Enteral feeding intolerance will be assessed according to predefined criteria and international recommendations. The following findings will be considered enteral feeding intolerance: vomiting, a single gastric residual volume greater than 250 mL, a 24-hour gastric residual volume greater than 500 mL, abdominal distension, and suspected aspiration.
Gastric residual volume will be measured by intensive care nurses using a 50-mL syringe according to the standard intensive care unit protocol.
Intra-abdominal pressure will be measured twice weekly as part of routine intensive care practice using the Foley bladder pressure measurement technique.
All study data will be obtained from routine clinical records, laboratory results, enteral nutrition monitoring charts, ventilator records, and the hospital electronic medical record. No additional invasive procedure, imaging study, surgical procedure, or other intervention will be performed for research purposes.
Study design
- Observational model
- Other
- Time perspective
- Prospective
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- The study population will consist of adult patients aged 18 years or older who are admitted to the Anesthesiology and Reanimation Intensive Care Unit of Ankara Atatürk Sanatoryum Training and Research Hospital and who are started on enteral nutrition. Patients will be prospectively screened and consecutively enrolled if they meet all inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria.
Key inclusion criteria (6 listed)
- Age ≥18 years
- Admission to the Anesthesia Intensive Care Unit
- Enteral nutrition planned or initiated during intensive care unit admission
- Expected to require enteral nutrition during intensive care unit follow-up
- Availability of sufficient clinical and nutritional data for study evaluation
Key exclusion criteria (6 listed)
- Age <18 years
- Patients receiving only parenteral nutrition
- Patients in whom enteral nutrition is contraindicated throughout the observation period
- Patients with insufficient data for evaluation of enteral feeding tolerance
- Patients transferred to another intensive care unit before adequate study assessment
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Primary outcome
Occurrence of Enteral Feeding Intolerance
Time frame: 7 days
Enteral feeding intolerance will be defined by the presence of at least one predefined clinical criterion: vomiting, a single gastric residual volume greater than 250 mL, 24-hour cumulative gastric residual volume greater than 500 mL, abdominal distension, or clinical suspicion of aspiration related to enteral feeding.
1 secondary outcome
Achievement of Energy Target
Time frame: 3 days
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 4 Nov 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Patients Who Receive Enteral Nutrition for at Least 72 Hours in the Intensive Care Unit Will be Included in the Study, run by Eda Cirit Bardakçi.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 4 Nov 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Eda Cirit Bardakci, Medical Doctor (+90 541 308 9295, edacrt@gmail.com), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Occurrence of Enteral Feeding Intolerance (time frame: 7 days). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 4 Nov 2026.