Hypoalbuminemia is disproportionately associated with adverse outcomes in obese elective surgical patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Protein deficiency (PD) is a known risk factor for surgical complications; however, the risks of PD by weight class have not been well described. It was hypothesized that the combination of obesity and PD is associated with increased surgical complications compared with normal weight and normoalbuminemic patients.

Methods

A total of 85,833 general surgery patients undergoing elective operations within the 2011 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program were analyzed. Patients with conditions that could potentially confound serum albumin (SA) were excluded. Patients were stratified by normal (>3.0 g/dL) versus low (<3.0 g/dL) SA. The relative impact of SA and body mass index (BMI) (as individual and as combined variables) on surgical morbidity and mortality were

SUBMITTER: Dietch ZC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4408210 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature