Study: Repeated fasting for multiple surgeries risks malnutrition, mortality

Editor's Note

Research shows repeated fasting for multiple surgeries during a single hospital stay significantly raises the risk of protein-calorie malnutrition, leading to longer recovery times, increased healthcare costs, and a higher likelihood of death. HealthDay covered the news October 21.

Presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists annual meeting, the findings are based on data from nearly 28.5 million orthopedic surgery patients hospitalized between 2016 and 2019, HealthDay reports.  Among these patients, 1.8 million were diagnosed with malnutrition, with affected individuals undergoing an average of 2.3 surgeries per stay compared to 1.6 for non-malnourished patients. Malnourished patients faced a 15% higher risk of death, with the likelihood of fatal outcomes increasing as the number of surgeries rose. Common causes of death included infection, poor wound healing, and complications related to frailty from inadequate nutrition.

Malnourished patients also had longer hospital stays, averaging nine days versus four days for those without malnutrition, and incurred higher costs, with hospital bills averaging $98,000 compared to $48,000. These outcomes were consistent across different types of surgeries, suggesting that repeated fasting and surgical stress can compromise nutritional status regardless of the specific procedure.

The researchers recommend that patients requiring multiple surgeries receive personalized nutritional support, such as dietary assessments, supplementation, and ongoing monitoring of nutritional status to aid in recovery and reduce complications, HealthDay reports. Although the findings apply broadly, assessing malnutrition's impact might be more challenging for gastrointestinal surgeries due to their direct effect on the digestive system.

These findings are considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal, HealthDay reports.