Nutrition Assessment of Surgical Patients Using Subjective Global Assessment

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess nutritional status of surgical patients by utilizing a Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) scale.
Methodology: A total of 277 admitted patients in the General Surgery department were evaluated for their nutritional status. Demographic and clinical characteristics such as gender, medical history, nutritional intake, SGA category, symptoms, and metabolic requirement recorded. SPSS version 27 used for descriptive statistics.
Results: Out of 277 patients, there were 149 (53.8%) male and 128 (46.2%) female. Only 44 (15.2%) patients required nutrition whereas 235 (84.8%) had no metabolic requirement. Patient’s distribution based on weight loss was that 21 (7.6%) patients lost 2 kg, 84 (30.3%) 3 kg, 65 (23.5%) 5 kg, and 21 (7.6%) lost 8 kg whereas 44 (15.3%) patients showed no weight loss. Based on SGA findings, the incidence of well-nourished, mild/moderately malnourished, and severely malnourished cases were 105 (37.9%), 169 (61%), and 3 (1.1%), respectively.
Conclusion: Malnutrition is common in majority of patients admitted to General Surgery, which adversely effects the surgical outcomes in terms of complications and mortality. Nutritional support is playing vital role in treating serious patients worldwide, but Pakistan is lagging behind to implement nutritional support in their health system.
Keywords: Malnutrition, Subjective global assessment, nutritional status