Predicting postoperative events in patients with gastric cancer: A comparison of five nutrition assessment tools

Background/Aim: We compared the adequacy of five nutrition assessment tools with respect to their predictive value in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer (GC) receiving radical surgery. Patients and Methods: Five nutrition assessment tools-Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), malnutritional universal screening tool (MUST), nutritional risk screening, patient generated subjective global assessment (PG-SGA), and prognostic nutritional index (PNI)-were assessed preoperatively for stage III GC patients. The correlation between postoperative events and nutritional status was further analyzed. Results: Most of the nutritional tools accurately predicted length of hospital stay and grade 3 or higher surgical complications, while only the GPS correlated with 30-day readmission and surgical complications. The PG-SGA performed the poorest among the five tools and failed to predict any postoperative event. Conclusion: The application of GPS is recommended as a prognostic index for patients with locally advanced GC prior to radical surgery.