Association between Domperidone Administered via Feeding Tube and Feeding Success in Critically Ill Patients with Enteral Feeding Intolerance

One nutritional challenge in critically ill patients is enteral feeding intolerance (EFI), but current prokinetic agents have uncertain efficacy and safety profiles. We conducted a longitudinal, single-center, retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of domperidone administered via the feeding tube versus intravenous (IV) metoclopramide among adult patients with EFI. The primary outcome was feeding success, defined as the proportion of patients with average percentage of daily protein prescription >80% of the target dose. The secondary outcomes were safety endpoints. Among 28,814 intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, 552 patients with EFI were included, 38 receiving IV metoclopramide and 514 receiving tube feeding domperidone. The proportion of feeding success in patients receiving tube feeding domperidone and IV metoclopramide was 42.02% and 21.05%, respectively. After 1:2 matching (IV metoclopramide to tube feeding domperidone), the proportion of feeding success was 40.79% in patients receiving tube feeding domperidone. Basically, after matching, there were no differences in any safety endpoints (mortality and length of stay during ICU and hospitalization, organ-support-treatment free days) or adverse events (recurrence of EFI, electrolyte disturbance, abdominal and other symptoms) between the two groups (p > 0.05). A logistic regression analysis in the matched cohort indicated that domperidone administered via the feeding tube was independently associated with feeding success. We found that tube feeding domperidone was efficient in increasing enteral nutrition delivery performance among critically ill adult patients with EFI.