A prospective observational study on nutritional status of patients with pancreatic tumor

Objective To investigate the rates of undernutrition and nutritional risks of surgical patients with pancreatic tumors. Methods Totally 121 surgical patients with pancreatic tumors from Department of Surgery Beijing Hospital were enrolled in a prospective study during January 2014 to December 2015. Patients were divided into two groups: the pancreatic cancer group (n=90) and other pancreatic tumor group (n=31). Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 was used to assess the nutritional status. Other data including anthropometric measure, body composition, blood biochemistry and clinical outcome were collected and analyzed. Results Among 121 patients, the mean age was (61.9±13.6) years, the mean body mass index was (23.20±2.95)kg/m2, the mean mid-upper circumference was (28.8±3.5)cm, the mean muscle weight was (44.6±7.4)kg, and the mean fat mass was (16.8±7.6)kg . There was no significantly difference in anthropometric measurement results and body compositions between two groups (all P>0.05). In the pancreatic cancer group, albumin[(39.0±4.7)g/L vs.(42.3±2.9)g/L, P<0.001], total protein[(62.8±6.2)g/L vs. (66.3±2.9)g/L, P<0.001], and prealbumin[(136.1±85.4)mg/L vs. (197.8±112.6)mg/L, P=0.011] were significantly lower than those in the other pancreatic tumor group and a higher fasting blood-glucose[(6.45±2.47)mmol/L vs.(4.95±0.79)mmol/L, P<0.011] was found. Among all patients, the rates of undernutrition and nutritional risk were 4.1% and 78.5%, and the pancreatic cancer group had a higher rate of nutritional risk (91.1% vs. 38.7%, χ2=36.525, P<0.001). Conclusion In this prospective study, surgical patients with pancreatic cancer have a high incidence of nutritional risk, with low protein level and abnormal glucose metabolism. Key words: Pancreatic neoplasms; Blood-glucose; Length of stay; Surgical patients; Undernutrition; Nutritional Risk Screening 2002