Effects of curd on diarrhea treatment in patients with head trauma receiving enteral feeding in intensive care units

BACKGROUND: Diarrhea in patients on enteral feeding is a common complication with serious clinical outcomes. In Eastern and Southern Mediterranean regions, using curd as a food for the treatment of diarrhea is a common practice. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate whether curd could reduce the duration or severity of diarrhea in critically ill tube-fed patients with head trauma. METHODS: A total of 42 patients on enteral feeding who had diarrhea after starting enteral feeding, admitted to the intensive care unit, were randomly assigned to either to receiving curd and standard enteral formula or standard enteral formula only groups. The intervention period for each patient was three days. The primary outcome was the duration of diarrhea, while the secondary outcomes were the frequency and weight of stool per day in each patient. RESULTS: This study showed a significantly higher stool weight in patients receiving enteral curd (588.76±266.88 vs 390.60±171.82 gr/day). There was no significant difference between the groups in duration of diarrhea (9 v 8 days) and episodes of diarrhea per day (2.20±1.00 vs 2.00±0.70) in intervention and control groups. incidence of liquid or loose stools on days 1–4 of the intervention (P1 = 0.43, P2 = 0.16, P3 = 0.45, P4 = 0.62). Feeding with curd did not change the APACHE score in intervention and control groups. This study showed no significant difference in 28 days of mortality in intervention and control groups. CONCLUSION: The findings showed that supplementary enteral feeding with curd did not improve diarrhea, the severity of the disease, or 28 days mortality in critically ill patients with diarrhea receiving enteral nutrition.