Bioimpedance Spectroscopy and Estimated Energy Requirements in ICU-1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Bioimpedance Spectroscopy (BIS): Investigating the application of BIS to improve the accuracy of estimated energy requirements in the critically ill patient
IRAS ID
177471
Contact name
Jayne Hardicre
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Salford
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 30 days
Research summary
The gold standard for measuring a patient’s resting energy expenditure (REE) is indirect calorimetry (IC) (Schlein & Coulter, 2014). However, the equipment to perform IC is often not routinely available in Critical Care Units, can be expensive to purchase and the measurements time consuming to perform (Schlein & Coulter, 2014). Therefore, estimated energy requirement (EER) equations are usually favoured instead (Reid, 2007).
These equations are utilised to determine the approximate kilocalories a patient requires per day. However, previous research has established that these equations frequently have a high margin of error (Frankenfield, Coleman, Alam & Cooney, 2009). Meaning that a critically ill patient could potentially be calorifically under or overfed, both of which can cause a range of serious complications (Schlein & Coulter, 2014) and even lead to an increased length of hospital stay (Roberts, Kennerley, Keane & George, 2003).
One of the greatest difficulties dietitians face is estimating a patient’s dry weight to enter into the EER equations. This is made all the more challenging if the patient is oedematous, has ascites or significant amounts of adipose tissue (Cutts et al,. 1997). Previous research has demonstrated that the use of bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS) is particularly beneficial in renal patients to obtain a dry weight before deciding how much fluid to remove during dialysis (Moissl et al., 2013).
For this study approximately 10-30 critically ill adult patients will have BIS measurements performed to calculate their dry weight. Their dry weight will then be entered in an EER equation to obtained a value for how many kilocalories per day the patient requires.
Next a record will be made of what the dietitian estimates the patient daily kilocalorie requirement to be using the same EER equation but with an estimated dry weight.
Both equations will then be compared to the patient's actual measured REE to explore which is more accurate.
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0834
Date of REC Opinion
17 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion