Association between pre-operative nutritional status and total length of hospital stay in neurological surgical patients
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66154/nmj.v2i1.23Keywords:
Neurological surgery, Length of hospital stay, Nutritional status, Preoperative care, Nutritional risk screeningAbstract
Objective: To evaluate the association between preoperative nutritional risk and total length of hospital stay in patients undergoing neurological surgery.
Methods: This retrospective cohort study analyzed medical records of patients hospitalized for elective neurological surgeries between January and May 2023 and January and May 2025. Adult and older patients of both sexes were included. Nutritional risk was assessed using the Nutritional Risk Screening tool (NRS-2002), and nutritional status was evaluated according to AND-ASPEN criteria. Associations between nutritional risk, malnutrition, age, comorbidities, ASA classification, and total length of hospital stay were analyzed.
Results: A total of 334 patients were evaluated, with a predominance of females (53%). The main comorbidities were hypertension (44.9%), cancer (24.6%), and diabetes mellitus (17.1%). Most patients did not present nutritional risk (53.6%). Patients at nutritional risk were older, had a higher prevalence of chronic diseases, worse clinical condition according to the ASA classification, higher prevalence of malnutrition, and longer hospital stay. The median length of hospital stay was 8 (5–16) days and was significantly longer among patients at nutritional risk (16 [8–28] days) compared to those without risk (6 [4–8] days; p<0.001). Similarly, patients with moderate or severe malnutrition had longer hospital stays compared to well-nourished patients (p<0.001). Nutritional risk and malnutrition were independently associated with length of hospital stay.
Conclusion: Preoperative nutritional status is significantly associated with hospital length of stay in neurological surgical patients, highlighting the importance of early nutritional screening and appropriate interventions to reduce complications and optimize postoperative recovery.
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