“
TL;DR
This systematic review analyzed 31 studies to find the methods used to identify malnutrition in emergency general surgery patients.
BJS Open · 5 authors, 6 centres
This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.
This systematic review analyzed 31 studies to find the methods used to identify malnutrition in emergency general surgery patients.
This systematic review of 31 studies investigated the methods for defining and determining malnutrition in adult emergency general surgery patients. The review found that nutritional status was assessed using a heterogeneous mix of seven nutrition screening tools, nine assessment tools, and various markers like BMI and albumin. The most common primary or secondary marker for malnutrition was BMI, followed by albumin level. The authors highlight a lack of standardization, noting that the two-step process of screening followed by assessment is rarely implemented, leading to confusion and heterogeneity. Limitations include the inclusion of mixed patient populations where emergency general surgery results were extracted. The study concludes that future research needs to standardize nutrition screening and assessment as discrete processes to better understand malnutrition risk.