A Quick Look at Muscle Loss in Critically Ill Kids: What's the Deal with Protein and Energy Intake?

We all know that surviving critical illness is a big deal, especially for kids. In developed countries, many of these kids make it, but they often face physical problems later on. One big issue is muscle loss. Doctors have been tracking this using ultrasound on the quadriceps femoris muscle. They wanted to see how muscle mass changes during a kid’s critical illness and if it’s linked to how much protein or energy they get. A detailed check of studies published between 2010 and 2024 showed some interesting findings. Out of 135 papers, eight were chosen for their quality. These studies involved 411 children. Scary fact: on average, these kids lost almost 9% of their muscle mass within the first week of their stay in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). That’s a lot! More than half of the kids showed signs of muscle wasting, which is defined as a loss greater than 10%. So, why is this happening? Well, the studies also explored if protein or energy intake made a difference. The results were a bit mixed, but one thing is clear: kids are losing a lot of muscle, and it’s happening quickly.