[Effect of surgical trauma on patient nutritional status].

The acute phase response to sudden illness or trauma is one of the most basic features of the body's defenses against injury. This response includes: alterations in amino acid distribution and metabolism, an increase in acute phase globulin synthesis, increased gluconeogenesis, reductions in serum iron and zinc levels, increased serum copper and ceruloplasmin levels, as well as negative nitrogen balance. Changes in the nutritive status follow as a consequence of these changes. Phylogenetically, this response could be considered the most primitive, even though new reports from literature suggest that the nutritive status of patients is an important medical category due to several reasons. It is known that 30%-60% of the patients have changes in the nutritive status, when admitted in a hospital. It is also known that 30%-45% of the patients will develop changes in the nutritive status during hospitalization. The aim of this study is to analyse the influence of operative trauma on the nutritive status of the patients through evaluation of the following nutritive markers: body weight and mass, albumin and total protein levels in serum, level of transferine and haptoglobine, and loss of nitrogen and proteins. The subjects were surgical patients (at the age of 16 to 60) divided into three groups according to the severity of the operative trauma (small, medium severe and heavily severe trauma). The results indicated the following: the loss of body weight, nitrogen and proteins is dependent upon the severity of the operative trauma and the transverine and haptoglobine levels are in positive significant correlation with the severity of the operative trauma.