Lay summary
Gastrointestinal (gut) dysfunction/failure (GDF) is a common problem in acute and critically ill patients. To date there is no validated, objective and universally accepted method for diagnosing and scoring GDF severity in acute and critically ill patients. A number of methods for assessing GDF have been studied over the past few decades, but none of these methods of assessing GDF has an established role in clinical practice. The aim of this project is to develop and validate a novel, holistic, and multidimensional gut dysfunction scoring tool (GDST) to enable early assessment of GDF and improve clinical and nutritional outcomes in acute and critically ill patients with GDF. The early assessment, recognition and management of impaired gut function with the help of this novel GDST should enable intensivists to improve outcomes in acute and critical illness.