Body composition among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer

Introduction: Nutritional status assessment is an important part of preoperative patient evaluation, but the standard anthropometric parameters do not appear to be adequate. Aim: To determine the changes in the values of bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) parameters in patients 3 months after undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC). Material and methods: BIA and nutritional status assessment parameters were determined in 80 patients prior to undergoing surgery for CRC. The results 3 months after surgery for 64 of those patients were then compared with their initial assessments. Results: According to standard WHO ranges, 54% of the patients were diagnosed as being overweight and 29% as obese. The percentage of patients categorized as obese amounted to 56% when this was defined as high fat mass. Moderate sarcopaenia, defined as a low skeletal muscle index (SMI) or low percentage of skeletal muscle mass, was diagnosed in 21% and 29% of patients, respectively. Patients with postoperative weakness that made it impossible for them to attend the control visit had a lower preoperative skeletal muscle mass (p = 0.01) and SMI value (p = 0.001). Parameters of BIA did not discriminate patients with postoperative complications, which occurred in 23% of individuals enrolled. Conclusions: A significant proportion of the patients undergoing surgery for CRC were overweight or obese, which could mask the sarcopaenia that presented in 21-29% of them. Sarcopaenia was the only parameter predictive of a postoperative decrease in performance status.