Preoperative Nutritional Status as a Risk Factor for Major Postoperative Complications Following Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion

Study Design:Retrospective study.Objectives:To determine rates of medical and surgical postoperative complications in adults with hypoalbuminemia undergoing anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF).Methods:This was a retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database of patients (≥18 years old) undergoing ALIF procedures, identified by CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) code from 2011 to 2014. Poor nutritional status was defined by a preoperative serum albumin level <3.5 g/dL, and albumin levels above this were considered normal. Multivariate logistic regression models were utilized to assess preoperative risk factors including nutritional status as predictors of specific postoperative complications. Significance was defined as P < .05 and odds ratios (ORs) were calculated with a 95% confidence interval (CI). This model was used to determine the strength of nutritional status as an adjusted predic...