Enteral Nutrition in Hospitalized Adults

Gramlich, Leah M.D.
Guenter, Peggi Ph.D., R.N.

¹University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
²American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, Silver Spring, MD

Dr. Gramlich can be contacted at [email protected] or at Suite 214, Community Service Center, Royal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton, AB T5H 3V9, Canada.

Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org.

New England Journal of Medicine 392(15):p 1518-1530, April 17, 2025. | DOI: 10.1056/NEJMra2406954

Key Points

Enteral Nutrition in Hospitalized Adults

Malnutrition is prevalent among hospitalized patients, many of whom may be able to meet nutritional needs through oral intake.
Standardized nutrition care pathways aid in the detection of malnutrition and the identification of patients who may benefit from enteral nutrition.
Patients with inadequate caloric intake may need enteral nutrition.
Recent evidence suggests that underfeeding (providing 70% of energy and protein requirements) is not harmful during the acute phase of critical illness in patients in the intensive care unit.
An area requiring further investigation in enteral nutrition is the dosing of nutrition during recovery and rehabilitation.

Enteral Nutrition in Hospitalized Adults

This review considers enteral nutrition in the context of disease-related malnutrition, provides evidence for the use of enteral nutrition in hospitalized patients, and discusses practice considerations.