Nutrition Intervention on Surgical Outcome Among Selected Hospitalized Subjects

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes is a polygenetic disease in which environmental factors and obesity play a major role in disease development. When diabetes is not well managed, complications develop that threaten health and endanger life. People with diabetes are also likely to have chronic muscle-skeletal co-morbidities, especially pre and post operative malnutrition escalates the infection rate and longer stay in hospital. Orthopaedic patients with surgical bone fractures and hip surgeries presented a deteriorating nutritional status, and higher incidence of many health problems. Medical Nutritional Therapy (MNT) is an essential component of inpatients in terms of management of surgical outcome among the diabetic subjects. Hence the present intervention study focused on the incorporation of soy protein in the formulated health mix which was used for the preparation of selected breakfast recipes for the post operative lower limb injured Type 2 diabetic subjects. Impact of nutrition intervention on surgical outcome was analysed. Increase in pre albumin level and reduced surgical site infection and length of stay (p<0.05) in hospital were proving that MNT is an essential component of inpatient which was usually unrecognized among orthopedic inpatients within a tertiary hospital. It was also evident from the study that the incorporation of high biological value protein along with the regular diet (which was easily included in the preparation of common recipes) of lower limb injured hospitalized Type 2 diabetics has significant impact on the increment in serum albumin along with an elevation of Total Lymphocyte TLC (>15), markers of nutritional status insisting the importance of nutritional support as a prevention strategy to decrease the incidence post operative complications among orthopedic subjects.