Clinical nutrition : official journal of the European Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition
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Age and malnutrition are each surgical risk factors. Because the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) has been specifically designed for assessing the nutritional status of elderly patients, it can be used for preoperative nutritional evaluation. Therefore, the MNA was included in the preoperative clinical evaluation of patients over 60 years of age to describe their nutritional status. ⋯ The MNA was found to be well-suited for the preoperative assessment during anaesthesia consultation because it required no biological marker. It showed that approximately one-third of all the examined patients, and half of the ASA 3-4 patients, were not well-nourished. The ASA score could not predict poor nutritional status. The results suggested that nutritional assessment should be routinely performed in ASA 3-4 patients over 60 years of age.