Nutritional risk index is predictor of postoperative complications in operations of digestive system or abdominal wall?

BACKGROUND Malnutrition can be considered the most common disease in hospitals due to its high prevalence. AIM To investigate the methods of evaluation of the nutritional status that better correlate with postoperative complications and the length of hospital stay in patients submitted to gastrointestinal or abdominal wall surgeries. METHODS This is a retrospective evaluation of 215 nutritional assessment records. All were submitted to traditional anthropometry (weight, height, BMI, arm circumference, triceps skinfold thickness and mid-arm muscle circumference), subjective global assessment, serum albumin and lymphocyte count. Nutritional risk index was also calculated. RESULTS A total of 125 patients were included. Malnutrition was diagnosed by mid-arm muscle circumference, nutritional risk index and subjective global assessment in 46%, 88% and 66%, respectively. Severe malnutrition was found in 17,6% if considered subjective global assessment and in 42% by the nutritional risk index. Oncologic patients had a worst nutritional status according to this index (5,42 less units). There was a negative correlation between occurrence the noninfectious postoperative complications with the nutritional risk index (p=0,0016). Similarly, lower serum albumin levels were associated with higher non infectious complications (p=0,0015). The length of hospital stay was, in average, 14,24 days less in patients without complications as compared with non infectious postoperative complications (p<0,05). CONCLUSION Nutritional risk index and serum albumin are the parameters with the best capacity to predict the occurrence of non infectious postoperative complications and the length of hospital stay was higher to this patients.