Introduction:

Malnutrition in critically ill patients is associated with poor prognosis. Protein losses are identified conventionally by biochemical parameters. The muscle mass can reflect the body protein reserve, its measurement by means of sonography has shown a strong correlation for the detection of alterations.

Objective:

To determine the correlation of the sonographic measurement of the Rectus Femoris (RF) and Vastus Intermedius (VI) muscles, with the conventional biochemical parameters of nutritional assessment.

Methods:

We studied 12 patients older than 18 years who received an early enteral diet. The biochemical parameters were measured, simultaneously with sonographic parameters at the level of RF and VI on days one and seven. Correlation was established between the significant biochemical and sonographic parameters.

Results:

The biochemical parameter with the greatest statistical significance was the Urinary Nitrogen Balance (UNB) in a 24-hour urine sample (p = 0.001). In sonographic measurements, the percentage of muscle reduction for RF and VI showed greater difference (p = 0.001). In correlation analysis, strong correlation was obtained between UNB and RF (r = 0.77) as UNB and VI (r = 0.76).

Conclusion:

There is a correlation between the protein losses measured by UNB and the percentage reduction of RF and VI muscles measured by sonography.

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