Nutritional control in orthopedic surgery patients

Objective: To assess the nutritional status of orthopaedic patients. Design: Prospective observation study. Setting: Tertiary hospital, Clinical Nutrition Unit. Patients:.107 patients (56,1 % women, 43,9 % men, 62,1 20,4 years) are studied at admission to the orthopaedic unit and it is observed the evolution of orthopaedic surgery patients with hip or knee prosthesis. Material and methods: Medical history, anthropometric data and three nutritional screening tools were considered: Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) y Valoracion Global Subjetiva (VGS). It was assessed the prevalence of malnutrition in patients on admission to hospital, using different methods and determining if a correlation exists between malnutrition and other factors, such as the development of pressure sores of the dependence in activities of daily living. Results: The risk of malnutrition is 22 and 24/100 patients admitted at hospital, if MNA and SGA are used, respectively (SGA caregorized 4% of the group as "malnourished"). 80% patients are considered to be at high risk of malnutrition using MUST. 1,7% patients presented a Body Mass Index (BMI) lower than 18,5. There is a strong agreement between malnutrition and neropsychological status (p = 0,001), and the dependence in activities of daily living (p = 0,002), and between medium and high risk of malnutrition and the development of pressure sores (p = 0,003). If NINA and SGA (p = 0,000) are used, post-surgical patients presents a deteriorating nutritional status. Conclusions: The prevalence of malnutrition in patients on admission to hospital is elevated. Orthopaedicsurgery patients with hip and knee prosthesis presented a deteriorating nutritional status, and a higher incidence of pressure sores in a month.