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

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

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

Method: 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.

Results: 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).

Conclusion: 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.