ObjectiveThis study aims to assess the preoperative nutritional status of patients and
the role it plays in the occurrence of clinical complications in the
postoperative period of major elective cardiac surgeries.MethodsCross-sectional study comprising 72 patients aged 20 years or older, who
underwent elective cardiac surgery. The preoperative nutritional assessment
consisted of nutritional screening, anthropometry (including the measurement
of the adductor pollicis muscle thickness) and biochemical tests. The
patients were monitored for up to 10 days after the surgery in order to
control the occurrence of postoperative complications. The R software,
version 3.0.2, was used to statistically analyze the data.ResultsClinical complications were found in 62.5% (n=42) of the studied samples and
complications of non-infectious nature were most often found. Serum albumin
appeared to be associated with renal complications
(P=0.026) in the nutritional status indicators analyzed
herein. The adductor pollicis muscle thickness was associated with
infectious complications and presented mean of 9.39±2.32 mm in the
non-dominant hand (P=0.030). No significant correlation was
found between the other indicators and the clinical complications.ConclusionThe adductor pollicis muscle thickness and the serum albumin seemed be
associated with clinical complications in the postoperative period of
cardiac surgeries.