Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies.
| Study | Country | Participants | n (I/C) |
Intervention | Control | Outcomes | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muramatsu 2018 |
Japan | Patients who agreed to study participation before gastrostomy | 151 (75/76) | Semi-solid enteral nutrients prepared by adding pectin and calcium with a viscosity of 20,000 cP |
Liquid enteral nutrients | Pneumonia | Semi-solid enteral nutrients decreased the risk of pneumonia |
| Ishii 2006 |
Japan | Inpatients with gastrostomy | 14 (7/7) |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients | Liquid enteral nutrients | GER 1 Diarrhea Leak from the gastrostomy site |
Diarrhea and leak from the gastrostomy site were less common with semi-solid nutrients than with liquid enteral nutrients |
| Togashi 2012 |
Japan | Inpatients with gastrostomy | 94 (50/44) |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients with viscosity of 20,000 cP | Liquid enteral nutrients | Pneumonia Diarrhea |
Patients on semi-solid enteral nutrients had a lower incidence of pneumonia and diarrhea |
| Paku 2012 |
Japan | Inpatients with gastrostomy | 94 (50/44) |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients with viscosity of 20,000 cP | Liquid enteral nutrients | Pneumonia Diarrhea |
Patients on semi-solid enteral nutrients had a lower incidence of pneumonia and diarrhea |
| Nakahori 2011 |
Japan | Inpatients with gastrostomy | 20 (10/10) |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients | Liquid enteral nutrients | Pneumonia Diarrhea |
Pneumonia and diarrhea were difficult to evaluate because of the small number of cases |
| Abe 2011 |
Japan | Inpatients with gastrostomy | 15 (8/7) |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients | Liquid enteral nutrients | Diarrhea Care time |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients were associated with decreased occurrence of diarrhea and shorter care time |
| Muramatsu 2010 |
Japan | Inpatients with PEG 2 | 22 (11/11) |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients | Liquid enteral nutrients | Consistency of stools | Consistency of stools improved from watery to solid in the semi-solid nutrient group |
| Kanie 2004 |
Japan | Patients being fed by PEG | 34 (17/17) |
Half-solid enteral nutrients were prepared by mixing with 5 g of agarose | Liquid enteral nutrients | GER | The rate of GER was lower in the half-solid nutrient group |
| Shizuku 2011 |
Japan | Elderly patients undergoing PEG feeding | 64 (32/32) |
Half-solid enteral nutrients MEDI-F Pushcare® (Nestle, Kobe) with viscosity of about 2000 mPa·s | Liquid enteral nutrients | Diarrhea Care time needed |
The care time needed was significantly less in the half-solid enteral nutrient group; the numbers of patients who developed diarrhea were similar between the groups |
| Nagasawa 2009 |
Japan | Patients more than 1 week after gastrostomy | 20 (10/10) |
Semi-solid nutrients prepared by adding Easy gel to RACOL® (Otsuka, Tokyo) | Liquid enteral nutrients (RACOL®, Otsuka, Tokyo) | Dwell time in the stomach | Semi-solid enteral nutrients accelerate gastric emptying during the early phase when compared with liquid enteral nutrients |
| Toh 2016 |
Japan | Patients who received gastrostomy for enteral nutrition Tube feeding for 2 weeks prior to gastrostomy |
117 (45/72) |
Semi-solid enteral feed with a dynamic viscosity of 20,000 cP | Liquid feed with dynamic viscosity of 5–10 mPa s | Pneumonia Diarrhea |
Using semi-solid enteral feeds may reduce the risk of pneumonia No statistically significant difference in the rates of diarrhea between the two groups |
| Tabei 2018 |
Japan | Age ≥20 years Patients who needed nutritional therapy via a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, percutaneous transesophageal gastric tube, or a nasogastric tube |
27 (15/12) |
Pectin solution with viscosity of 1000–2000 mPa·s | Liquid enteral nutrition diet of K-LEC® (Kewpie Corporation, Tokyo) with viscosity of 5 mPa·s | Pneumonia Diarrhea Care time |
No cases of pneumonia in either group No between-group difference in incidence of diarrhea Pectin solution was able to be administered in a significantly shorter time than the liquid enteral nutrition diet |
| Nishiwaki 2009 |
Japan | Patients more than 1 month after gastrostomy | 30 (15/15) |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients prepared by adding agar to RACOL® (Otsuka, Tokyo) | Liquid enteral nutrients (RACOL® (Otsuka, Tokyo) | GER Dwell time in the stomach |
GER was significantly inhibited by semi-solid enteral nutrients No between-group difference in gastric emptying time |
| Shimizu 2016 |
Japan | Patients who planned to undergo PEG for the first time | 132 (66/66) |
Semi-solid contrast agent with viscosity of 6000 mPa·s | Liquid contrast agent (3 mPa·s) | GER | Semi-solid contrast agents reduced the incidence of GER after PEG |
| Higashiguchi 2014 |
Japan | Aged >20 years Patients undergoing PEG or had plans for PEG |
112 (56/56) |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients with viscosity of 6500–12,500 mPa·s prepared using alginic acid and agar powder | Liquid enteral nutrients with viscosity of 5.51–6.52 mPa·s | Pneumonia Diarrhea Constipation Care time |
Semi-solid enteral nutrients were able to be administered in a significantly shorter time than liquid enteral nutrition No statistically significant difference in the rates of pneumonia, diarrhea, and constipation between the two groups |
1 GER, gastroesophageal reflux; 2 PEG, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.