Malnutrition is associated with postoperative complications in elderly patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty.

INTRODUCTION: Malnutrition in elderly patients with hip fracture has been described as a factor associated with poor outcomes. This evidence for elderly patients undergoing elective total hip arthroplasty (THA) for osteoarthritis is not well-established.

METHODS: We retrospectively studied a cohort of patients with an age ≥65 years admitted to the hospital for THA between January 2018 and December 2020. Demographic characteristics were collected. Albumin and total lymphocyte count were included in the pre-operative analysis and 24h postoperatively. Nutritional screening was carried out 24h postoperatively. GLIM criteria were applied for the diagnosis of malnutrition.

RESULTS: 25 patients out of the total cohort of 65 (38.4%) were malnourished. Five out of six patients (83.3%) with postoperative complications presented malnutrition compared with 20 of 59 patients (33.8%) without postoperative complications (P=0.028). Mean length of stay (LOS) was 3.49±0.88 days. Five out of six (83.3%) patients with postoperative complications presented LOS >3 days compared with one out of six patients (16.6%) with LOS ≤3 days (P=0.009). 26 patients (40%) were referred to a community health centre, no differences in diagnosis of malnutrition were detected compared with patients who were discharged home. Patients with a diagnosis of malnutrition were significantly older, had a lower body mass index (BMI), a lower preoperative and postoperative albumin and worse anthropometric parameters.

CONCLUSIONS: Malnutrition is associated with postoperative complications and longer LOS in elderly patients with elective THA. Risk factors for malnutrition are older age and low BMI.