Nutritional status and outcome of surgery: A prospective observational cohort study of children at a tertiary surgical hospital in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Background: Undernutrition contributes to nearly 50% of all child deaths in the world, yet there is conflicting evidence regarding the association between nutritional status and postoperative complications. The aim was to describe the preoperative nutritional status among pediatric surgery patients in Zimbabwe, and to assess if nutritional status was a risk factor for adverse postoperative outcome of mortality, surgical site infection, reoperation, readmission, and longer length of stay.

Methods: This prospective observational cohort study included 136 children undergoing surgery at a tertiary pediatric hospital in Zimbabwe.