Inadequate preoperative nutrition might be associated with acute kidney injury and greater illness severity postoperatively.

Objective: Nutrition is vital for maintaining optimal cellular and organ function, particularly in neonates who undergo cardiac surgery. Achieving nutritional goals preoperatively can be challenging because of fluid restrictions, suboptimal oral intake, and concerns for inadequate gastrointestinal circulation. We examined preoperative caloric intake and its effects on postoperative course in neonates who underwent cardiac surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of neonates (younger than 30 days) who underwent congenital heart surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass from 2008 to 2014 at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Data on multiple nutritional and postoperative variables were collected. Study outcomes included hospital length of stay, duration of mechanical ventilation, and acute kidney injury (AKI).

Results: Records of 95 neonates were reviewed. Sixty-six patients (69.5%) with a median age of 5 days did not achieve preoperative caloric goal, whereas 29 patients (30.5%) with a median age of 11 days did. Of those who achieved caloric goal, 6 (20.6%) achieved it via total parental nutrition, 9 (31.1%) with a combination of total parental nutrition and enteral feeds, and 14 (48.3%) via enteral route. There was a significant difference in peak lactate (P = .002), inotropic score (P = .02), and duration of mechanical ventilation (P = .013) between those who did and did not achieve caloric goal. In multivariable analysis we found that failure to achieve caloric goal preoperatively was independently associated with stage 2 or 3 AKI (P = .04; odds ratio, 4.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-19.63) and younger age at the time of surgery (P < .001; odds ratio, 0.12; 95% confidence interval, 0.04-0.33).

Conclusions: Failure to achieve preoperative caloric goal might contribute to development of AKI and might be associated with greater severity of illness postoperatively.