[Nutritional assessment and evolution in patients with brain injury in a medium and long-stay hospital].

Introduction

brain Injury Units (BIU) in medium and long-stay hospitals provide comprehensive multidisciplinary care to patients who require continuity of care after the acute phase of their illness.

Objectives

to asses the nutritional status and the evolution of patients admitted to the BIU using morphofunctional assessment criteria. Material and methods /

Results

a total of 27 patients were studied, with an average age of 67.63 years and an average stay of 97.8 days. During hospitalization, 5 patients (18.5 %) died. Upon admission, all patients presented some degree of malnutrition according to the Mini Nutritional Assessment short form (MNAsf). After evaluating using the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria, 78 % were malnourished. At discharge, 7.4 % of the evaluated patients were malnourished (p = 0.00). Dysphagia was present in 44.4 % of patients at admission and 7.4 % at discharge. Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) showed that the phase angle (phA) significantly improved between admission and discharge, with an average of 4.3° and 4.5°, respectively. Patients with a phA ≤ 3.1° died. At discharge, nutrition and hydration improved (Nutrigram®, Hydragram®, and appendicular skeletal muscle mass). Strength measured by dynamometry was above the 25th percentile: 56.5 % at admission and 70.6 % at discharge (p = 0.036). Functionality significantly improved according to the Barthel Index (BI), with an average of 19.7 at admission and 46 at discharge (p = 0.00).

Conclusion

patients with acquired brain injury suffer significant nutritional and functional deterioration, which improves after multidisciplinary intervention in a BIU. Parameters such as phA appear to be related to prognosis. The main limitation of the study was the small sample size.