Interview with Professor John-Charles Preiser, Dept of Intensive Care, Erasme University Hospital, Brussels by Meg Marquardt, Nestlé Health Science.
From the Metabolic and Nutritional Issues in the ICU Workshop – 29-30 May 2018, Brussels, Belgium.
MB: Professor Preiser is chairman of the nutrition society in Belgium and he is director of this course here at Erasme Hospital and working in the ICU here. So congratulations on your meeting, it’s a wonderful agenda with world-recognised nutritionists in intensive care from around the world. What are your expectations of this meeting?
JCP: Well in fact we would like to get some insight into the last discoveries, or findings, and hope this can be implemented into the daily clinical practice of clinicians. Either physicians or dieticians.
MB: And how do you see this meeting transforming in the future?
JCP:Well, we’ll try to keep the format as it is now, applying a mixture of new findings and scientific talks together with the integration of the new findings into the daily clinical practice. So with very practical talks, a mixture of both, and also case discussions where the audience will be involved. That’s really important to get the people…to provide some message that can be used when the people are back in the hospital.
MB: So the smaller intimate size is critical really to the participants taking home the right take away messages.
JCP: Probably, yeah. Yes, I agree with that, sure.
MB: And in relation to nutrition where can we most improve patient management in the ICU do you think today?
JCP: Well I think that the issue of long-term outcomes is really important and there is more and more attention towards the effects of any management and including nutrition during the stay in the ICU, or long-term outcomes meaning time of hospital discharge of after 3, 6 months or even one year after discharge from the ICU. So we can influence the wellbeing and in fact the quality of life of patients by an appropriate nutrition during the time of acute illness. Avoiding an excess amount of calories, maybe an excess amount of proteins, and once the patients are during the acute phase and providing higher amounts and appropriate amounts of macro and micro nutrients during the time of recovery.
MB: So it’s really having a long-term picture as well as a short term critical management.
JCP:Yes, exactly.
MB: And lastly, what feedback would you like to hear from your participants at the end of this course?
JCP: Well, I would like them to get some more questions and also some adaptations in the clinical practice and if they can disseminate around themselves some of the knowledge they got that would be great.
MB: Thank you very much Professor Preiser, good luck with the rest of the course.
JCP: You’re very welcome. Thank you very much.