Infection Control Effect of Dietary Fluid with Whey Peptide in the Management of Patients with Severe Intracranial Hemorrhage During the Acute Stage

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Patients with severe intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) often develop infectious complications during the acute stage. Animal experiments have demonstrated that enteral immunonutrition with a dietary fluid containing whey peptide (WP) enhances immunoactivity and prevents infection. The aim of the current study was to investigate the infection control effect of WP in the clinical management of patients with severe ICH.

METHODS: Fourteen patients with ICH were given enteral nutrition from January 2012 to December 2012. Nine patients were given WP (WP group) and the other five were given control dietary fluid (Non-WP group) for two weeks. We retrospectively analyzed the incidence of infectious complications and chronological changes in white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), and total lymphocyte count.

RESULTS: All patients in the Non-WP Group experienced infectious complications, whereas 5 out of 9 patients in the WP Group did not experience them. There was a tendency for a decrease in WBC count and CRP value in the WP group. In contrast, WBC and CRP increased in 3 patients in the Non-WP Group. Total lymphocyte count tended to increase earlier in the WP Group; however this tendency was not noted in the Non-WP Group.

CONCLUSION: Although the number of cases was small, our study suggests that WP might have an infection control effect, capable of preventing infectious complications associated with severe ICH in the acute stage.