Correlation between nutritional status and clinical results in patients undergoing spinal surgery

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between preoperative Vitamin D and albumin levels and postoperative quality of life in patients undergoing spinal surgery. Methods: Patients undergoing thoracic and lumbar spine surgery were evaluated in this prospective study. Their Vitamin D and albumin levels were assessed before surgery and quality of life was measured by two questionnaires, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Scoliosis Research Society-22 (SRS-22), one year after the procedure. Data on infection occurrence and healing time were collected. Preoperative nutritional values and patients' quality of life were analyzed using the chi-square test and ANOVA for albumin and Vitamin D, respectively. The relationship among nutritional status, healing time, and the occurrence of infection was evaluated by the Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: Forty-six patients were included and their mean nutritional values were 19.1 (6.6) ng/mL for Vitamin D and 3.9 (0.6) g/dL for albumin [mean (standard deviation)]. No association was found between Vitamin D and quality of life of patients measured by ODI (p=0.534) and SRS-22 (p=0.739) questionnaires. There was also no association between albumin levels and quality of life measured by ODI (p=0.259) and SRS-22 (p=0.076) questionnaires. No correlation was found between the healing time or occurrence of infection and nutritional values. Conclusions: There was no association between Vitamin D and albumin levels and the surgical result, according to the patient's perception, besides the occurrence of complications with the surgical wound.