Pre- and postoperative nutritional status and predictors for surgical-wound infections in elective orthopaedic and thoracic patients

SummaryAimTo describe pre- and postoperative nutritional status for patients undergoing elective orthopaedic or thoracic surgery, compare different methods for screening and assessment of nutritional status and identify predictors for surgical-wound infection.MethodNinety-four patients were consecutively included and assessed preoperatively using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), nutritional screening indicators (NSI), nutrition risk index (NRI), and the biochemical indicators serum albumin (S-Albumin) and serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (S-IGF-1). Thirty days postoperatively, a structured infection surveillance questionnaire, weight and blood sampling were conducted.ResultsThe prevalence of malnutrition preoperatively ranged from 3.2% (PG-SGA) to 17.0–17.1% (S-IGF-1 and NSI). Thirty days postoperatively, the body weight, the body mass index and S-Albumin had decreased, while the S-IGF-1 had increased significantly. The only significant correlation between different methods preoperatively was found between S-Albumin and S-IGF-1. The agreement between NRI and S-Albumin was fair. Six patients (6.4%) developed surgical-wound infections. Preoperative S-Albumin was significantly lower for patients who developed surgical-wound infection compared to those who did not.ConclusionThe prevalence of malnutrition and risk for malnutrition in patients undergoing elective surgery varied depending on which evaluation method was used. Low preoperative S-Albumin was identified as the only significant predictor for surgical-wound infection.