[Effectiveness of an Early Enteral Nutrition Flowchart after Open Heart Surgery].

Purpose: The nutrition support team at our hospital introduced a flowchart to ensure smooth initiation of early enteral nutrition after open heart surgery. We assessed the effectiveness and safety of early enteral nutrition using the flowchart.

Methods: We examined 240 patients who had undergone cardiovascular surgery between November 2013 and September 2015. The patients were divided into 2 groups for comparison;the flowchart intervention group( n=120) and the non-intervention group( n=120).

Results: The postoperative enteral nutrition in the intervention and the non-intervention groups was begun at 28.3 (23.2~40.5) hours and 37.0 (26.7~44.9) hours (p=0.04), respectively. There was no difference in the length of intensive care unit stay or postoperative infection rate. However, the length of hospital stay was prolonged in the intervention group (11.0 days versus 9.0 days;p<0.01). The rate of gastrointestinal complication was also comparable( 28% versus 21%;p=0.23).

Conclusion: Our study suggests that early enteral nutrition may be safely promoted by introducing the flowchart in patients who have undergone open heart surgery. Further investigation is needed to clarify the effectiveness.