Investigation of The Effects of Pre- and Postoperative Nutritional Status on Complication Development, Intensive Care Unit and Hospital Stay in Elective Cardiac Surgery Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed to examine the effects of nutritional status on complications, the intensive care unit, and hospital stay.Methods: This descriptive, prospective, and correlational study was conducted with 180 patients who underwent elective open-heart surgery. Data were collected using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool and Sociodemographic Clinical Characteristics Form.Results: The risk of malnutrition was found to be medium to high in 27.2% of preoperative patients and moderate to high in 50.0% of postoperative patients. There was a statistically significant difference between the pre- and postoperative body weight, albumin, and total protein values of the patients. We found a moderate correlation between preoperative MUST values and the status of complications. It was determined that the patients' preoperative malnutrition scores (β=.186; P=.024, the presence of infection (β:.200; P=.005), the time of mechanical ventilation (β=.265; P