[Impacts of perioperative nutritional screening and management on postoperative infectious complications in geriatric degenerative spinal deformity surgery].

<b>Objective:</b> To evaluate the impacts of perioperative nutritional screening and management on postoperative infectious complications in geriatric degenerative spinal deformity surgery. <b>Methods:</b> This retrospective cohort study included elderly patients with degenerative spinal deformity who underwent open posterior thoracolumbar fusion at Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, from February 2018 to October 2022. A total of 139 patients with malnutrition or at risk of malnutrition, as identified using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF), were included. The patients were divided into an intervention group and a control group based on whether they received standardized perioperative nutritional management. Postoperative adverse events, laboratory parameters, and transfusion rates of albumin and blood products were compared between the two groups. <b>Results:</b> Among the 139 patients, 96 were male, and 43 were female, with an average age of (70.72±8.21) years. The control group included 70 patients, while the intervention group included 69 patients. There were no significant differences in preoperative baseline or intraoperative data between the two groups (all <i>P</i>>0.05). The incidence of postoperative infection-related complications was significantly lower in the intervention group compared to the control group [10.1%(7/69) vs 22.9%(16/70), <i>P</i>=0.044]. On postoperative day 3, the levels of serum albumin and prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in the intervention group were higher [(32.40±3.58) vs (30.72±3.17) g/L, 37.85±4.23 vs 35.87±4.57, both <i>P</i><0.05]. The albumin transfusion rate was lower in the intervention group [31.9%(22/69) vs 48.6%(34/70), <i>P</i>=0.045]. <b>Conclusion:</b> Perioperative nutritional screening and management are safe and effective for elderly patients undergoing open posterior thoracolumbar fusion for degenerative spinal deformity, these measures reduce the incidence of infection-related complications in patients with malnutrition or at risk of malnutrition.