Indicadores de qualidade da terapia nutricional enteral são ferramentas úteis para o monitoramento em pacientes com câncer avançado em cuidados paliativos?

Enteral nutritional therapy (ENT) in patients with advanced cancer in palliativecare should be directed towards a better quality of life, being important its monitoring so that thepatient has access to the best that the therapy can offer. The objective of this study was to applythe quality indicators of ENT in patients with advanced cancer in palliative care. Methods: Descriptive, observational study with a quantitative approach. Seven ENT quality indicators proposed bythe International Life Sciences Institute in Brazil were applied and the reasons for the suspensionor interruption of the enteral diet during hospitalization were quantified. Results: 51 patientsadmitted from May to November 2019 participated in the study. The frequencies of inadvertent exitof enteral nutrition tube (0.02%), the days of adequate administration of the prescribed volumeversus infused volume (92.6%) and diarrhea (2%) are within the goal used. The administration ofprotein (25.5%) and energy (57.4%), the frequency of episodes of abdominal distension (33.3%)and constipation (86.3%) were inadequate. The diet was interrupted or suspended mainly due tothe occurrence of vomiting, end-of-life care or tube obstruction. Conclusion: The use of qualityindicators of nutritional therapy proved to be viable in this group of patients. Some inadequaciesfound in this population may be associated with the change in the objective of nutritional therapyin patients with shorter life expectancy. Adaptations based on the prognosis may be necessary, inaddition to the application of new indicators, or adjustments to the proposed goals.