Vol. 1, Issue 1, Part A (2017)

Aim: The aim of study was to assess the post-operative morbidity with relation to pre-operative albumin status, in patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery.

Material and Methods: In this hospital-based observational study, 100 patients undergoing emergency abdominal surgery at Department of General Surgery were included. Hypoalbuminemia was diagnosed if serum albumin level was less than 3.5 gm/dl. Types of surgery and postoperative complications were included in the study. Any association between preoperative serum albumin level and postoperative morbidity was assessed. Study period was of 2 years. Pre-operatively, 50 patients had hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin <3.5 g/dl) and 50 patients had normal albumin levels (≥3.5 g/dl).

Results: Of the 100 patients studied, 65% were male and 35% were female. Pre-operatively, 50 patients had hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin <3.5 g/dl) and 50 patients had normal albumin levels (≥3.5 g/dl). Most of the patients belonged to 38-57 years in the present study. The most common indication for emergency abdominal surgery was peptic ulcer perforation 35 (35%), followed by acute intestinal obstruction 30 (30%). Surgical site infection was commonest complication found in 29 (29%) cases. Wound dehiscence was found in 11 (11 %) cases. Mean length of hospital stay was found to be higher i.e. 8.72±5.60 days in patients with hypoalbuminemia, compared to 7.35±4.16 days with those having albumin level ≥3.5 g/dl.

Conclusion: Preoperative albumin is a useful low-cost prognostic predictor for predicting surgery outcome.