Why might small bowel feeding increase the amount of feeding delivered in postoperative patients with high GRVs?

• A. Gastric emptying recovers quickly.
• B. Recovery of gastric emptying may be slower than return of small bowel motility in post-operative patients.
• C. Small bowel feeding reduces the need for nutrition overall.
• D. Small bowel feeding increases the risk of aspiration.

Answer: (C)

When gastric emptying is delayed after surgery, high gastric residuals limit how much nutrition you can safely deliver into the stomach, causing frequent interruptions and slower advancement of feeds. Placing the nutrition into the small bowel bypasses the stomach, delivering directly to the duodenum/jejunum. Intestinal motility often recovers earlier than gastric motility, so tolerance to feeds in the small bowel is better and episodes of intolerance or hold times due to high residuals are reduced. This allows a higher rate and ultimately a greater total volume of nutrition to be delivered, increasing the overall amount of feeding that can be provided.