Making Nutrition Management Scientific, Objective and Simple with the Help of Technology

January 15, 2021 | 0 Comment
Dr. Sanjith Saseedharan
MBBS, Diploma in Anesthesiology
Head, Department of Intensive Care Unit, S.L. Raheja Hospital (A Fortis Associate), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Dr Sanjith has done his post-graduation in anaesthesia following which he has done his training in Critical Medicine. He has a keen interest in Neurotrauma, Neurocritical Care, and Nutrition. He is a teacher for the Indian Diploma in Critical Care Medicine for MBBS & Post Graduate students. He is a teacher for the MUHS Fellowship course in Critical Care Medicine. He is also a teaching faculty for the Critical Care Nursing Programme. He has received an award for best innovation for his software application “”iNutrimon”” a nutrition support software for hospitalized patients.

Check his profile – https://www.rahejahospital.com/doctor/dr-sanjith-saseedharan-saroja

Abstract Nutrition management is one of the cornerstones of care in the management of hospitalized patients, especially, for those who are critically ill. Significant numbers of hospitalized patients have alterations in appetite and the function of the gastrointestinal tract. Calculating the caloric goal, prescribed proteins to be delivered in a finite amount of water at a certain rate is the need of the hour and it becomes a daunting task to complete daily. With the help of technology, such tasks can be completed easily and accurately. This suggestion based software called “iNutrimon” helps to screen out the patients which are at risk of malnutrition, formulate a plan, monitor and manage enteral nutrition of patients by calculating calories, proteins, and water intake as per the patient requirement. Introduction Nutrition forms an important component of every individual’s lifestyle pattern. It becomes even more significant in hospitalized individuals as they have a history of reduced appetite from days to weeks prior to hospitalization and also as it forms an integral part of the treatment regime. Studies have revealed that underfeeding occurs in up to 30% of hospitalized patients and as many as 50% of ICU patients [1,2]. This malnutrition leads to an increase in the length of intensive care unit stay, hospital stay, and increased rate of infections thus increasing morbidity. Hence, optimization of nutritional support is very crucial [3-7]. Enteral nutrition (EN) is clearly the feeding of choice when it comes to providing nutrition to hospitalized patients [8,9]. A number of countries (especially developing) around the world are still using blenderized kitchen diet rather than commercial feeding formulae. The evidence of superiority and safety of commercial feeding formulae (with defined composition) over blenderized kitchen feeds are clearly emerging especially in the critical care units [10,11,12]. Such a form of enteral feeding could…

To continue reading this article ...

Submit a Comment