Nutritional Status Is Associated With Survival Following Spinal Surgery in Patients With Metastatic Spinal Tumors

Background Preoperative and postoperative nutritional statuses are reported to influence the outcomes and complications of multidisciplinary treatment, including patient survival. However, a causal relationship between nutritional status and survival following spinal surgery has not been demonstrated in patients with metastatic spinal tumors. The present study was, therefore, designed to evaluate the correlation between the nutritional status and survival following spinal surgery in patients with metastatic spinal tumors. Methods Nutritional status was evaluated using the Japanese version of the modified Glasgow prognostic score (JmGPS), C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR), prognostic nutrition index (PNI), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), which were calculated from the results of preoperative laboratory tests. The survival period was defined as the interval between the day preoperative data were obtained and the day of death. Results Data from 57 of 113 consecutive surgeries were retrieved. The CAR, JmGPS, and PNI were significantly correlated with the survival period (CAR, r = -0.576, P < 0.01; JmGPS, r = -0.537, P < 0.01; PNI, r = 0.316, P = 0.02). Furthermore, patients with 0 points on the JmGPS had significantly longer survival. Using receiver operating characteristic curves, CAR cutoffs of ≥0.880 and ≤0.220 were found to be optimal in predicting the 90- and 180-day postoperative survival, respectively. Conclusions The findings of the present study indicate that preoperative assessment of the JmGPS, CAR, and PNI has utility in estimating nutritional status and predicting survival following spinal surgery in patients with metastatic spinal tumors.