Assessment of changes in body composition measured with bioelectrical impedance in patients operated for pancreatic, gastric and colorectal cancer

ntroduction: A proper level of nutrition is significant in the period of convalescence in patients subject to major surgical procedures, particularly due to neoplastic disease. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, or BIA is a widely used method in assessing body mass composition. BIA measurement is easy, quick, cheap and repetitive. Material and methods: We assessed the body composition of 56 patients (25 women and 31 men) hospitalized and operated at the Department of General and Oncological Surgery of the Wroclaw Medical University in the years 2017–2018 using bioelectric impedance. Results: The average body weight loss in the 4th postoperative day was 1.32% of body mass and on the day of release from hospital – 4.23% of body mass in relation to body mass upon admission. The percentage of body fat (FM – Fat Mass) in patients admitted to the department is above the normal range. The change in body composition in hospitalized patients mainly concerns the amount of adipose tissue and the amount of extracellular and intracellular water (ECW – Extracellular Water; ICW – Intracellular Water). Conclusions: Bioelectrical impedance can be an easy and effective method of assessing body composition and its change in patients undergoing major surgery. Amongst the analyzed groups, patients operated for pancreatic cancer lose the largest percentage of body weight until discharge from the department. Loss of body mass mainly occurs as loss of fat mass (FM).