Abstract

Author(s): Santos, H. V. D.¹; Araújo, C. M. S.²

Objective: To investigate the association between preoperative nutritional status, the incidence of surgical complications and length of hospitalization of elderly patients undergoing gastrointestinal surgeries.

Methods: 51 elderly patients (> 60 years) were evaluated within 48 hours in the preoperative gastrointestinal surgeries through nutritional miniavaliação, of anthropometric parameters: weight, height estimated from knee height, brachial circumference, calf circumference, weight loss in the last 6 months, body mass index and of biochemical parameters. The clinical diagnosis, comorbidities, the incidence of postoperative complications and length of hospital stay were also investigated.

Results: The diagnosis of malnutrition varied from 25.5 to 51%, the nutritional miniavaliação significantly associated with brachial circumference (p = 0.025) and calf circumference (p = 0.021). Patients with malignant disease had a higher percentage of malnutrition by nutritional miniavaliação (p = 0.025) and brachial circumference (p = 0.029). The nutritional miniavaliação (p = 0.005), the percentage of weight loss (p = 0.014), anemia (p = 0.012), malignancy (p = 0.003) and the presence of postoperative complications (p <0.001) were associated with length of hospitalization.

Conclusion: Malnutrition is a frequent finding and nutritional miniavaliação was considered a good parameter for nutritional assessment suggesting being a possible indicator of the length of hospital stay as well as the percentage of weight loss.