Nutritional Parameters Predicting Postoperative Infections

Thirteen nutritional parameters viz body mass index (BMI), mid arm circumference (MAC), mid calf circumference (MCC), triceps skin fold thickness (TST), abdominal skin fold thickness (ASFT), abdominal girth at umbilicus (AG U), haemoglobin (Hb), total leucocytes count (WBC), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), serum proteins (Prot.), serum albumin (AIb), serum total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and serum iron (Fe) were estimated in 52 (36 male and 16 female) consecutive patients admitted to a surgical service at the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Karachi. Nine males and one female developed surgical infections whilst the wounds of 27 males and 15 females healed by primary intent. There was a significant difference in the values of BMI, MCC, ASFT, Prot., and AIb between the patients with infected and clean wounds. Whilst MCC was significantly different, MAC was not as good a differentiator. Whilst Prot. and AIb were lower in the infected group, BMI, MCC, TST, ASFT were higher in the patients whose wounds healed by primary intent (JPMA 38:3, 1988).