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NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF ACUTE SURGICAL PATIENTS‐PREDICTOR OF HOSPITAL STAY
Author(s) -
Kahokehr A. A.,
Sammour T.,
Wang K.,
Plank L. D.,
Hill A. G.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
anz journal of surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.426
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-2197
pISSN - 1445-1433
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-2197.2009.04917_6.x
Subject(s) - medicine , malnutrition , malignancy , medical diagnosis , pediatrics , emergency medicine , pathology
Background: Previous studies have shown that nutritional status affects recovery after elective surgery. The impact of nutritional status in the acute surgical setting has not been well defined. Methods: Over a 4 week period consecutive patients admitted for >24 hours under the general surgical service at a tertiary hospital were screened on admission using the subjective global assessment (SGA) nutritional assessment tool. Results: Of 332 eligible patients, 310 were screened. Diagnoses at discharge were: Colorectal pathology (28%), Infective (23%), Hepatopancreaticobiliary (15%), upper gastrointestinal (9%), Vascular (5%), trauma (5%), other (15%). 5% had a malignancy diagnosed during their admission. Mean age was 52 years (95% CI 18–84), mean BMI was 28.6 kg/m 2 (95% CI 19.2–41.7), and 170 (55%) were female. 48% were deemed well nourished (SGA‐A), 40% had moderate/suspected malnutrition (SGA‐B) and 12% were severely malnourished (SGA‐C). Median (range) hospital stay was 3 (1–20), 5 (1–30) and 7 (2–38) days (p < 0.001 Kruskal Wallis) for SGA category A to C respectively. Cox regression revealed that SGA was an independent predictor of day stay after taking age, malignancy, sex, albumin, lymphocyte and diagnosis into consideration. Conclusion: Nutritional status in the acute surgical setting, as measured by a simple clinical tool predicts duration of hospital stay. Admission nutrition screening may be considered in order to determine nutritional requirements of acute surgical patients.