Development of a Universal Nutritional Screening Platform for Plastic Surgery Patients

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Nutritional Science
• Surgical Outcomes

Background:

• Malnutrition affects up to 25% of plastic surgery patients, potentially impairing wound healing.
• A universal, rapid, and accurate screening protocol is needed to optimize pre-operative nutrition.
• Previous studies highlighted the link between nutritional status and patient recovery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a universal screening protocol for malnutrition in plastic surgery patients.
• To enable timely nutritional intervention and optimization before surgical procedures.
• To ensure effective pre-operative nutritional assessment for diverse patient populations.

Main Methods:

• A two-part screening algorithm was implemented.
• The Canadian Nutritional Screening Tool (CNST) was used for initial triage.
• High-risk patients were further assessed using the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and blood work.

Main Results:

• 111 patients were screened across various surgical categories.
• 15.32% of patients screened positive for nutritional risk via CNST.
• 13 patients were confirmed as malnourished using SGA, independent of age, BMI, smoking, or diabetes.

Conclusions:

• Combining CNST and SGA provides an effective method for pre-operative malnutrition screening.
• Early identification of malnourished patients can lead to improved surgical outcomes.
• A universal screening approach is crucial for the diverse plastic surgery patient population.