Premium
Serum Levels of Prealbumin and Albumin for Preoperative Risk Stratification
Author(s) -
Loftus Tyler J.,
Brown Michelle P.,
Slish John H.,
Rosenthal Martin D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
nutrition in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1941-2452
pISSN - 0884-5336
DOI - 10.1002/ncp.10271
Subject(s) - medicine , malnutrition , risk stratification , confusion , transthyretin , albumin , intensive care medicine , psychology , psychoanalysis
Preoperative risk stratification has long been developed as a strategy to predict postoperative outcomes and potentially alter or optimize comorbidities and modifiable risk. Malnutrition is among the most common potentially modifiable risk factors and the strongest predictor of poor postsurgical outcomes. Historically, malnutrition has been difficult to address for healthcare providers because of the lack of a cohesive definition. Adding to the confusion has been the use of serum levels of albumin and prealbumin as biomarkers for malnutrition; many fail to understand that these visceral proteins are only valid as markers of nutrition status while at homeostasis. Surgical need is often driven by both sterile and non‐sterile inflammation, but during this pathologic mechanism, hepatic reprioritization shunts visceral protein synthesis, rendering albumin and prealbumin invalid as biomarkers for malnutrition. Ultimately, understanding these limitations and embracing better indicators of malnutrition will improve preoperative risk stratification.