Investigation of the Relationship Between Preoperative Nutritional Status and Postoperative Outcomes in Gastrointestinal Surgery at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital

Preoperative malnutrition is a well-established predictor of adverse postoperative outcomes in gastrointestinal surgery, but its prevalence and its specific relationship to complications and recovery in South East Nigerian surgical practice have not been analytically studied. This study investigates the relationship between preoperative nutritional status and postoperative outcomes in gastrointestinal surgical patients at Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, Enugu State. A prospective cohort design is applied to 260 consecutive adult patients scheduled for elective gastrointestinal surgery. Nutritional status is assessed preoperatively using the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 tool, serum albumin, and body mass index. Postoperative outcome variables include anastomotic leakage, wound infection, length of hospital stay, readmission within 30 days, and in-hospital mortality. Cox regression and logistic regression in SPSS examine the association between nutritional status and each outcome. Available gastrointestinal surgery literature from South East Nigeria identifies serum albumin below 30g/L as the strongest single predictor of postoperative complications, with NRS-2002 score of 3 or above correlating with a twofold increase in complication risk. The NRS-2002 and ESPEN perioperative nutrition guidelines provide the clinical framework. Findings will support the introduction of preoperative nutritional optimisation pathways at the institution. Keywords: nutritional status, gastrointestinal surgery, postoperative outcomes, Enugu State, South East Nigeria.