Abstract

Background and Objectives: Severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the most common diagnoses in the medical intensive care unit. The objective of this study is to seek an effective and clinically tolerable dosage of ω-3 (EPA+DHA) fatty acids (FA) in enterally fed patients with severe pneumonia. Methods and Study Design: A total of 84 patients were randomly assigned to a control group or two experimental groups from January 2022 to June 2024, each receiving 3.50g and 8.75g of ω-3 FA daily for 7 days, and clinical outcomes and tolerance parameters were collected. Results: ω-3 FA supplementation significantly reduced mechanical ventilation (MV) duration, hospital expenses, and daily hospital costs. Mechanistically, the anticipated anti-inflammatory effect was not observed but a trend of immune enhancement was noted. The addition of 3.50g and 8.75g of ω-3 FA daily was relatively well-tolerated in patients with severe pneumonia. Conclusions: In this pilot study, ω-3 FA supplementation at 3.50–8.75 g/day to enterally fed patients with severe pneumonia for 7 days was relatively well-tolerated, shortened days of MV, and decreased hospital cost. Further investigation with adequate statistical power and larger sample size is warranted to confirm these clinical benefits and establish the optimal dosage for this supplementation strategy.

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