Clinical Significance of Preoperative Nutritional Status in Pediatric Surgical Patients

This prospective study was undertaken to correlate the preoperative nutritional status in pediatric surgical patients with postoperative morbidity. The prevalence of protein-calorie malnutrition in our patients is also evaluated. Sixty-two consecutive pediatric surgical patients were admitted elective to King Khalid University Hospital for different reasons. Seventy-four major and intermediate surgical procedures were carried out. The patients were assessed nutritionally on the day of admission by using anthropometric and biochemical methods. Patients were monitored for complications during their hospital course. Eighty percent of patients have one or more abnormal values suggestive of protein-calorie malnutrition. Six patients had 8.1% complication rate. Five of them showed moderate to severe malnutrition. The correlation between malnutrition and postoperative morbidity was evident but was not of clinical or statistical significance. And the predictive value of nutritional variables in predicting postoperative complications were difficult to assess in this study but they generally were of little help.