European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Malnutrition Criteria for Predicting Major Complications After Hepatectomy and Pancreatectomy

Background Recently, diagnostic criteria for malnutrition have been proposed by the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN). This study aimed to investigate the utility of the ESPEN malnutrition criteria as a predictor for major complications following hepatectomy and pancreatectomy. Methods Data were reviewed from 176 consecutive patients who underwent hepatectomy (n = 103) or pancreatectomy (n = 73) between November 2017 and December 2019. Patients were divided into two groups according to the ESPEN malnutrition criteria using a prospectively collected database. The clinical data and the surgical outcomes of patients in the malnourished and normal groups were retrospectively analyzed. Results Thirty-five (20%) patients were diagnosed with malnourishment according to ESPEN criteria. The malnourished group had a significantly low preoperative albumin concentration (p = 0.001). After hepatectomy, major complications (Clavien grade >= 3a) occurred significantly more frequently in the malnourished group than in the normal group (p = 0.013). Multivariate analysis indicated that operative duration >= 300 min (hazard ratio: 22.47, 95% CI: 2.17 to 232.73,p = 0.009) and malnourishment (hazard ratio: 14.56, 95% CI: 2.58 to 82.17,p = 0.002) were independently associated with major complications after hepatectomy. On the other hand, malnutrition was not associated with major complications after pancreatectomy. Conclusions The ESPEN malnutrition criteria are a valuable predictor for major complications following hepatectomy.