Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2022
Observational StudyA Prospective, Cohort Study of the Effect of Acute and Chronic Malnutrition on Length of Stay in Children Having Surgery in Rwanda.
Malnutrition is common in pediatric surgical patients, but there are little data from low-income countries that estimate the association of malnutrition with surgical outcomes. We aimed to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and its association with length of stay (LOS) among pediatric surgical patients in Kigali, Rwanda. ⋯ Malnutrition is prevalent in >20% of children presenting for surgery and associated with increased LOS after surgery, even after accounting for individual and family-level confounders. Although some aspects of malnutrition may relate to the surgical condition, severe malnutrition may represent a modifiable social risk factor that could be targeted to improve postoperative outcomes and resource use. Severely stunted children should be identified as at risk of having delayed recovery after surgery.