The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol 75, Issue 6 880-884, Copyright © 1993 by Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc
The relationship between preoperative nutritional status and complications after an operation for scoliosis in patients who have cerebral palsy
DS Jevsevar and LI Karlin
Department of Orthopaedics, New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02111.
The records of forty-four patients who had cerebral palsy and spastic
quadriplegia and in whom a spinal arthrodesis had been done for scoliosis
were reviewed to determine if the preoperative nutritional status of the
patients was associated with the rate of postoperative complications. The
patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 consisted of twenty-four
patients who had a preoperative level of serum albumin of at least
thirty-five grams per liter (3.5 milligrams per cent) and a total
blood-lymphocyte count of at least 1.5 grams per liter (1500 cells per
cubic millimeter), and Group 2 consisted of twenty patients who had a
preoperative level of serum albumin of less than thirty-five grams per
liter (3.5 milligrams per cent) and a total blood-lymphocyte count of less
than 1.5 grams per liter (1500 cells per cubic millimeter). The patients in
Group 1 had a significantly lower rate of infection, a shorter period of
endotracheal intubation after the operation, and a shorter period of
hospitalization.
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