Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) As a Preoperative Screening Tool in Predicting Clinical Outcomes of Postoperative Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Patients

Objective The authors sought to evaluate the role of nutritional indices such as Onodera's prognostic nutrition index (PNI), World Health Organization (WHO)-based anthropometric measurements such as weight for age (w/a), height for age, weight for height, and perioperative serum albumin levels in the determination of postoperative clinical outcomes in pediatric patients who undergo surgery for congenital cardiac defects and surgical complexity (risk-adjusted congenital heart surgery score) and its correlation with postoperative course. Material and Methods In this prospective observational study, 108 post-pediatric cardiac surgery patients under the age of 18 months were enrolled between January 2023 and August 2023. Through receiver operating characteristic curve analysis we have found the cutoff value for PNI is <= 66.5 and >66.5. The above mentioned parameters were analyzed for postoperative clinical outcomes such as length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay, length of hospital stay, and duration of mechanical ventilation. Results Significant negative correlation was found between length of ICU stay and hospital stay with lower PNI (P = .019 and <.001, respectively.). Analysis of low versus high PNI groups was suggestive of a remarkable increase in mechanical ventilation time (P = .03), length of ICU stay (0.01), and hospital stay (P <= .001) in the low PNI group. Lower WHO-based w/a Z score was found to be significantly associated with low PNI (<66.5), after adjusting for preoperative albumin, postoperative albumin drop, and C-reactive protein (odds ratio = 1.411 per unit 0.28 increment in W/azs, P = .004). Conclusion Preoperative Onoderas PNI is an effective and efficient tool for predicting postoperative clinical morbidity in pediatric patients undergoing congenital heart surgery.