Risk of Malnutrition after Gastrointestinal Cancer Surgery: A Propensity Score Matched Retrospective Cohort Study

Purpose: Patients with cancers arising from the gastrointestinal tract can suffer from nutritional inadequacies caused by various factors. This study investigated the risk of malnutrition after curative surgery in patients with gastric cancer (GC) or colorectal cancer (CRC) using various preoperative and postoperative nutritional screening tools. Materials and Methods: In the authors’ hospital, 407 patients (206 patients with GC and 201 patients with CRC) underwent surgery between July 2011 and June 2012. The patients from the two groups were matched using the propensity score and then analyzed the nutritional data from 170 patients (85 patients in each group), retrospectively. Results: In both groups, the postoperative nutritional status was impaired significantly compared to the preoperative status. The postoperative risk of undernutrition in CRC patients was significantly lower than that of the GC patients according to the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (P=0.007). At the time of hospital discharge after surgery, the incidence of a lower serum albumin level (P=0.002) and more than 5% weight loss (P=0.013) were higher in the GC group than in the CRC group. A comparison of the postoperative nutritional status among the types of surgery in each group, total gastrectomy in the GC group (P=0.015) and proctectomy with diverting stoma in the CRC group (P=0.06), were related to more than 5% weight loss. Conclusion: Gastrointestinal cancer surgery might increase the patients’ postoperative risk of malnutrition, particularly in GC surgery. Therefore, consecutive assessments of the nutritional status and appropriate nutritional support are necessary after surgery for GC and CRC. (Surg Metab Nutr 2018;9:16-25)