Major considerations of enteral nutritional therapy in patients with congestive heart failure: a systematic review

Abstract

Introduction: Nutrition in the cardiovascular area has focused on improving lifestylerelated diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, and metabolic syndrome from the point of view of primary and secondary prevention, that is, “nutrition for weight loss ” and nutritional guidance has been required. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a serious and growing public health problem worldwide. Approximately 25 million people are carriers of this disease and two million new cases are diagnosed each year, and enteral nutrition has been highlighted. Objective: It was to develop a systematic review of the main clinical outcomes that highlight the importance of enteral nutritional therapy in patients with congestive heart failure. Methods: The PRISMA Platform systematic review rules were followed. The research was carried out from October to November 2023 in the Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Scielo, and Google Scholar databases. The quality of the studies was based on the GRADE instrument and the risk of bias was analyzed according to the Cochrane instrument. Results and Conclusion: 143 articles were found. A total of 45 articles were evaluated and 34 were included in this systematic review. Considering the Cochrane tool for risk of bias, the overall assessment resulted in 21 studies with a high risk of bias and 17 studies that did not meet GRADE and AMSTAR-2. It was concluded enteral nutrition is highly recommended in an attempt to mitigate weight loss in these patients. Enteral diet therapy can be infused continuously or intermittently. Studies have shown that more debilitated and less active patients better accept the diet via continuous tube, slowly and for a long period, even in those with heart disease.