According to the literature, some factors are associated with the development of postoperative complications including surgical approach, smoking, comorbidities, nutritional status, classification of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), fasting time period, and others. In the case of surgical patients, some factors are important for the assessment of the outcomes.
To investigate the factors associated with the likelihood of postoperative complications in surgical patients.
A prospective observational study was conducted with patients who were admitted to hospital more than 24 h. The following variables were investigated: nutritional risk screening, body mass index, ASA classification, fasting time, length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications. For statistical analysis, the Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and Mann-Whitney tests were used. To investigate the risk factors associated with postoperative complications, simple and multiple Cox regression analyses were used.
In the total group of patients, there was an association between postoperative complications and men (p=0.0197), surgical risk (ASA) (p=0.0397) and length of hospital stay (p<0001); men showed a risk 2.2 times greater than women for some kind of postoperative complication (p=0.0456; PR=2.167; 95%CI 1.015–4.624). In patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgery, there was an association between postoperative complications and length of hospital stay (p<0001). In patients undergoing other surgeries, there was an association between postoperative complications and length of hospital stay (p<0001) and ASA classification (p=0.0160); ASA classification was considered a factor associated with the probability of postoperative complications (p=0.0335; PR=4.125; 95%CI 1.117–15.237).
Men in the total group of patients and the ASA 3 or 4 criteria in the group of patients undergoing other surgeries were considered factors associated with the occurrence of complications in the postoperative period.
Previous studies have shown a relationship between calf circumference (CC) and outcomes in hospitalized patients.
To investigate the relationship between CC and clinical and nutritional outcomes in older in-patients (OiP) in a surgery ward.
This was a cross-sectional study with 417 OiP in a surgery ward. Clinical variables, anthropometry, and nutritional screening instruments such as subjective global assessment (SGA), mini nutritional assessment (MNA), and nutritional risk screening (NRS) were used in the investigation. The tests Pearson’s chi-square, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman’s coefficient, and multiple linear regression analyses were used to review the factors associated with CC.
Lower CC values were found in the age group 80 years and over (p<0.0001), presence of complications (p=0.0269), NRS (p<0.0001), SGA (p<0.0001), and MNA (p<0.0001). Gender (p=0.0011; partial R2=0.01151), age (p=0.0002; partial R2=0.06032), body mass index (p≤0.0001; partial R2=0.40820), and arm circumference (p≤0.0001; partial R2=0.11890) are variables that together were associated with CC. There was also a relationship between SGA (p=0.0166; partial R2=0.00605) and absence of complications during hospitalization (p=0.0047; R2=0.01154) with CC.
Gender, age, body mass index, and arm circumference were jointly associated with CC, in addition to SGA and absence of complications. The CC is a relevant indicator for OiP in the clinical practice.
In the compromised nutritional status, there is excessive skeletal muscle loss and decreased inflammatory response, contributing to increased morbidity and mortality and length of stay.
To estimate the prevalence of malnutrition by measuring adductor pollicis muscle using cutoffs for surgical patients suggested in the literature.
Cross-sectional study with 151 patients scheduled for elective surgical procedure. Nutritional assessment was performed by classical anthropometric measurements: arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness, arm muscle circumference, corrected arm muscle area, BMI and percentage of weight loss and the extent of the adductor pollicis muscle in both hands.
The prevalence of malnutrition in patients was high. A significant association between nutritional diagnosis according to the measures of adductor pollicis muscle and arm circumference, BMI and triceps skinfold thickness but there was no association with arm muscular circumference, arm muscular area or percentage of weight loss.
The adductor pollicis muscle has proved to be a good method to diagnose muscle depletion and malnutrition in surgical patients.
Surgical patients constitute a group of individuals who are commonly underdiagnosed and undertreated, where nutritional impairment can be either a preexisting finding or a result of the hypercatabolic and hypermetabolic state.
The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of malnutrition, according to the GLIM criteria, and its association with clinical and nutritional factors, in individuals admitted to a surgical unit of a general hospital.
A cross-sectional, retrospective study was conducted, involving patients in the preoperative period due to gastrointestinal diseases. Demographic, clinical, and nutritional data were collected from adult and elderly patients admitted to a surgical unit between March and December 2019. Nutritional risk was assessed using the Nutritional Risk Screening tool (NRS-2002). The prevalence of malnutrition was found using the GLIM criteria. Binary logistic regression modeling was performed to determine the association between the diagnosis of malnutrition using the GLIM method and clinical and nutritional variables.
The majority of the sample presented nutritional risk (50.2%) according to the NRS-2002. The prevalence of malnutrition according to the GLIM criteria was 32.3%, with severe malnutrition being predominant (21.2%) in all age groups. There was an association between malnutrition and nutritional risk detected by the NRS-2002 (OR: 5.791; 95%CI 3.201-10.478). There was a predominance of patients undergoing cancer surgery (64%) and these patients were more likely to be diagnosed with malnutrition (OR: 2.068; 95%CI: 1.161-3.683), after statistical adjustment.
An important prevalence of nutritional risk assessed by the NRS-2002 and of malnutrition assessed by the GLIM method was identified, especially in its severe form. In addition, preoperative patients with nutritional risk, as detected using the NRS-2002 nutritional screening tool, and candidates for oncologic surgery are more likely to be diagnosed as malnourished using the GLIM criteria.
Oral transit time is one of the parameters observed during the clinical assessment of the swallowing function. The importance of this parameter is due to its impact on the total duration of a meal, whose consequence can be an unfavorable nutritional prognostic.
To document scientific papers that measure oral transit time in healthy subjects.
The review followed the steps proposed by the Cochrane Handbook. The search was done via the PubMed database through the use of descriptors related to the oral phase of swallowing, as well as to types of food consistency.
The articles on the theme had different definitions for oral transit time, as well as heterogeneity of tested volumes, age and gender of the participants. The times found varied from 0.35 s to 1.54 s for liquids, from 0.39 s to 1.05 s for pasty foods and from 1 s to 12.8 s for solid foods. Also, regardless of volume or consistency, oral transit time in elderly people is significantly longer than in adults.
There's no consensus in the literature about oral transit time in healthy subjects. However, this parameter should be valued during the assessment of the swallowing function due to its negative impact on the dynamics of swallowing, which can cause high energy expenditure during feeding.
Weight loss and malnutrition may be caused by many factors, including type of disease and treatment.
The present study investigated the occurrence of in-hospital weight loss and related factors.
This cross-sectional study investigated the following variables of 456 hospitalized patients: gender, age, disease, weight variation during hospital stay, and type and acceptance of the prescribed diet. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for comparing patients' weight in the first three days in hospital stay and determining which factors affect weight. The generalized estimating equation was used for comparing the food acceptance rates. The significance level was set at 5%.
The most prescribed diet was the regular (28.8%) and 45.5% of the patients lost weight during their stay. Acceptance of hospital food increased from the first to the third days of stay (p=0.0022) but weight loss was still significant (p<0.0001). Age and type of prescribed diet did not affect weight loss during the study period but type of disease and gender did. Patients with neoplasms (p=0.0052) and males (p=0.0002) lost more weight.
Weight loss during hospital stay was associated only with gender and type of disease.
Chronic liver disease is associated with malnutrition that negatively impacts a patient’s health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
To evaluate the short-term effect of whey protein supplementation on the HRQoL and nutritional and functional status of patients waiting for liver transplantation.
This was a double-blind randomized clinical trial with patients waiting for liver transplantation who were randomized into two groups: WP (whey protein supplementation) and the control (casein supplementation). Both groups received 40 g (20 g in the morning and 20 g in the evening) for 15 days. Nutritional and functional status were evaluated. Energy balance was calculated as the difference between energy intake (24-hour recall) and total energy expenditure (assessed by indirect calorimetry). The chronic liver disease questionnaire was used to assess HRQoL. All measurements were performed before and after the intervention.
Fifty-six patients were evaluated. Malnutrition was present in 56.9%, and it was directly associated with a poor HRQoL (p<0.05). No improvement on the nutritional and functional status was observed, in either group after protein supplementation. HRQoL improved after WP and casein supplementation, with no differences between groups (p>0.05). Patients who met protein requirements and had a positive energy balance demonstrated a higher HRQoL score (4.9, p<0.05), without between-group differences.
Malnutrition substantially reduces HRQoL. Short-term WP or casein supplementation improved similarly the HRQoL.
Desenvolvido por Surya MKT