Economic Evaluation of Early Enteral Nutrition in Severely Burned Patients

Objective To evaluate the clinical effectiveness and cost of early enteral nutrition(EN) in severely burned patients. Methods In a randomized controlled clinical trial,41 burned inpatients with total burn surface area (TBSA) over 30% were randomly assigned to EN group(n=21) and conventional therapy(CONT)group(n= 20). The two nutritional support protocols were similar in expenditure of calorie and nitrogen intake within 7 days of treatment. Serum levels of visceral proteins were measured. Prognostic inflammatory and nutritional index(PINI) was postulated from formula. Results Prealbumin was significantly higher in the EN group than in the CONT group[(115.8±31.0)mg/L vs. (69.4±17.3)mg/L,P 0.01]. PINI was significantly lower in EN group than in CONT group(162.9±89.4 vs. 343±149,P 0.01). A cost of $382.06 was saved in EN group. Conclusion Early enteral nutritional support improved nutritional status compared to conventional nutritional support,and was good in cost-effectiveness.