Nutritional status of patients with gastrointestinal cancers and analysis of factors for postoperative infections

Patients with gastrointestinal cancer have a higher risk of malnutrition and postoperative infection.

To investigate the nutritional status of patients with gastrointestinal cancers and factors for postoperative infections.

Based on the nutritional risk status, 294 patients with gastrointestinal tumours were divided into a nutritional risk group and a non-nutritional risk group, and the differences between the two groups were compared.

Among the included patients, 128 were at preoperative nutritional risk (43.54%); there were significant differences between the two groups in terms of age (66.25 ± 11.73 vs. 58.36 ± 10.41 years, P < 0.001), percentage of gastric cancers (39.84% vs. 28.92%, P = 0.049), percentage of stage IV tumours (60.16% vs. 45.18%, P = 0.011), total protein (64.90 ± 6.82 vs. 67.21 ± 7.41 g/L, P = 0.007), albumin (38.32 ± 4.74 vs. 41.61 ± 5.10 g/L, P < 0.001) and haemoglobin (112.72 ± 22.63 vs. 125.11 ± 22.79 g/L, P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that risk factors for postoperative infections in patients included age ≥ 60 years (odds ratio [OR] = 2.266 95%CI = 1.357–4.134), Nutrition Risk Screening (NRS)-2002 score ≥ 3 (OR = 2.183, 95%CI = 1.218–4.102), alcohol history (OR = 2.505, 95%CI = 1.370–4.683), comorbid diabetes mellitus (OR = 2.110, 95%CI = 1.381–4.023) and surgical time ≥ 6 h (OR = 2.446, 95%CI = 1.359–4.758).

Patients with gastrointestinal cancers are at high incidence of preoperative nutritional risk, and those with an NRS-2002 score of > 3, history of alcohol consumption and surgical time of > 6 h have a higher risk of postoperative infections.