Please check our “Clinical Studies” page to access the full article from updated ASPEN guidelines as of April 1, 2020:

Recommendation 4: Nutrition Dose, Advancing to Goal, and Adjustments

Feeding should be initiated with low dose EN, defined as hypocaloric or trophic, advancing to full dose EN slowly over the first week of critical illness to meet energy goal of 15-20 kcal/kg actual body weight (ABW)/day (which should be 70-80% of caloric requirements) and protein goal of 1.2-2.0 gm/kg ABW/day.

Please check our “Clinical Studies” page to access the full article regarding the importance of increased protein needs for COVID-19 ventilated patients:

The Issue:

The COVID-19 virus has brought significant new challenges to the nutritional support of the estimated 960,000 patients who will require mechanical ventilation.

Overview:

Ventilated patients are anesthetized using a lipid (fat) based anesthesia such as propofol that typically delivers 400-500 fat calorie per day. Enteral tube feeding formulas do not deliver enough protein to meet the Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) guidelines of 1.2 -2.0 mg of actual body weight per day without over feeding calories (see attached). For example, a 225 lb. man receiving and a standard enteral tube feed would receive 1530-2040 calories but only 65-86 grams of protein. However his protein needs are estimated to be closer to 153-204 grams. A 150 lb woman would receive 1020-1360 calories and 43-57 grams protein, but her protein needs are estimated to be 65-86 grams. In both cases the protein provision falls short of the estimated needs. With the addition of calories provided by lipid-based sedatives, the protein deficit would be even greater.