This review focuses on why indirect calorimetry should be used in clinical practice of critical care medicine and which are the benefits of using indirect calorimetry and which are the disadvantages of using predictive equation. Considering that "The energy prescription in critically ill patients requires precision and accuracy to avoid the deleterious effects of under- and overfeeding" the use...

A new study in the Frontiers in Nutrition Journal provides evidence on the assessment of the time to reach steady state (SS) during indirect calorimetry in young, healthy adults. The aims of this prospective study are to determine an approximate time to reach SS using open-circuit IC and establish the appropriate duration of SS needed to estimate REE. To achieve these aims, a 30-min IC measurement...

A new study in the Journal of Intensive care Medicine analyses the accuracy of predictive equations versus indirect calorimetry in surgical ICU (SICU) patients. The objective of this study was to compare the REE measured by indirect calorimetry with REE calculated using specific calorie goals or predictive equations for nutritional support in ventilated adult SICU patients. A retrospective review...

A new study investigates the applicability of predictive equations for resting energy expenditure (REE) in obese individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and the effects of OSA severity on REE. The aim of the present study was to compare the REE measured by indirect calorimetry with prediction equations in obese OSA patients and, as a secondary aim, to compare the effects of OSA severity...