Nutritional deficiencies after staged anterior and posterior spinal reconstructive surgery

The nutritional status was analyzed in 37 patients being treated with staged anterior and posterior spinal reconstructive procedures. Using stringent criteria for nutritional and immunologic incompetency, 31 patients (84%) became malnourished during hospitalization. Although the serum albumin on admission had been normal for all patients, it became significantly depressed in 77% following anterior and posterior spinal procedures. In a similar fashion, the total lymphocyte count became significantly depressed in 92%. The postoperative complications were clearly more extensive in patients who were malnourished and immune-deficient using these criteria--15 patients with urinary tract infections, four patients with bacterial sepsis, four patients with wound infections, and four patients with pneumonia (vs. one with a wound infection in the adequately nourished group). The length of hospitalization following the second operative procedure was significantly longer in the malnourished group: 16.2 days versus 12.4 days (p less than 0.05). The main purpose of this study is to create awareness of the ongoing nutritional demands placed on patients treated by two-stage spinal reconstruction surgical procedures. More aggressive nutritional intervention can reduce postoperative complications and length of hospital stay and improve the speed of functional recovery.