The relationship between preoperative nutritional status and complications after an operation for scoliosis in patients who have cerebral palsy.

The records of forty-four patients who had cerebral palsy and spastic quadriplegia and in whom a spinal arthrodesis had been done for scoliosis were reviewed to determine if the preoperative nutritional status of the patients was associated with the rate of postoperative complications. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 consisted of twenty-four patients who had a preoperative level of serum albumin of at least thirty-five grams per liter (3.5 milligrams per cent) and a total blood-lymphocyte count of at least 1.5 grams per liter (1500 cells per cubic millimeter), and Group 2 consisted of twenty patients who had a preoperative level of serum albumin of less than thirty-five grams per liter (3.5 milligrams per cent) and a total blood-lymphocyte count of less than 1.5 grams per liter (1500 cells per cubic millimeter). The patients in Group 1 had a significantly lower rate of infection, a shorter period of endotracheal intubation after the operation, and a shorter period of hospitalization.