Probiotics in prevention and care of elderly patients with enteral nutrition-related diarrhea

Objective To evaluate the application of probiotics in the prevention and care of elderly patients with enteral nutritionrelated diarrhea. Methods Sixty-two elderly patients (aged from 60 to 82 years) who needed enteral nutrition were chosen in department of gastroenterology in our hospital from February 2014 to January 2015, and they were randomly divided into experimental group (n=31) and control group (n=31). They were given enteral nutrition therapy without diarrhea before feeding. The patients in experimental group were given Live Combined Bacillus Subtilis and Enterococcus Faecium Enteric-coated Capsules besides nasogastric enteral nutrition, and patients in control group were given nasogastric enteral nutrition. They were both treated and given standardized care for one week. Then the incidence of diarrhea, dysbacteriosis, the goal time of nutritional supply amount were compared. Results The incidence of diarrhea in experimental group (12.9%) was significantly lower than control group (35.5%), and the difference was statistically significant (χ²=4.31, P< 0.05). The incidence of intestinal flora in experimental group was significantly lower than control group. The experimental group had 4 patients (12.9%) with cocoas content more than 40% of bacteria, while the control group had 14 patients (45.2%), the difference was statistically significant (χ²=7.83, P< 0.01). The treatment in experimental group shortened the goal time of nutritional supply amount and nutritional support time with significant difference (5.16±0.79) d vs (9.42±1.12) d, t=16.57, P< 0.01; (10.62±0.74) d vs (12.56±0.81) d, t=6.99, P< 0.01. Conclusion The efficacy of probiotics in the prevention of enteral nutrition-related diarrhea is remarkable. Probiotics significantly reduces the incidence of diarrhea, and improves the success rate of enteral nutrition with standardization of care at the same time.