The Use of the Perioperative Nutrition Score in Postoperative Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients.

Preoperative malnutrition is associated with increased postoperative morbidity. The perioperative nutrition score (PONS) was developed to identify patients at risk of malnutrition. We sought to assess the correlation between preoperative PONS and postoperative outcomes in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. We performed a retrospective cohort study of IBD patients, less than 21 years of age, who underwent elective bowel resection between June 2018 and November 2021. Patients were divided based upon whether they met PONS criteria. The primary outcome was postoperative surgical site infections. 96 patients were included. Sixty-one patients (64%) met at least one PONS criteria, while 35 patients (36%) met none. PONS positive patients more frequently received preoperative TPN supplementation (p <.001). There was no difference in preoperative oral nutritional supplementation between groups. Patients that screened positive for PONS had a longer hospital stay (p =.002), more readmissions (p =.029), and more surgical site infections (p =.002). Our data highlight the prevalence of malnutrition in the pediatric IBD population. Patients who screened positive had worse postoperative outcomes. Further, very few of these patients received preoperative optimization with oral nutritional supplementation. There is a need for standardization of nutritional evaluation to improve preoperative nutritional status and postoperative outcomes. III. Retrospective Cohort. • Perioperative malnutrition defined by PONS is associated with worse postoperative outcomes in adults. • Malnutrition defined by PONS may be used to screen and optimize preoperative nutrition among pediatric IBD patients. • PONS defined malnutrition is common in pediatric IBD, and those who screen positive had worse perioperative outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]