The association between poor nutrition and disease is well established. Integrating nutritional sciences into clinical practice offers a valuable tool to improve patient care and prognosis, particularly within the critical care environment where nutrition is often overlooked. However, optimizing nutritional support offers a safe and simple adjunct to more expensive and technologically challenging treatments for these complex patients. This volume provides comprehensive guidelines for the nutritional support of critically ill patients and is valuable reading for doctors, nurses, dieticians and practitioners working within the critical care environment. It begins by discussing nutritional physiology and patient assessment, providing an essential foundation for planning and managing the dietary requirements of critically ill patients. Internationally-recognized authors present evidence-based guidelines for managing various groups, including surgical patients, patients with burns, and patients with renal failure. The implications of enteral vs. parenteral nutrition, timing of nutritional support, therapeutic strategies, and management of complications are discussed.
