Implication of Preoperative Immunonutrition Upon Cardiac Patients Undergoing Mitral Valve Replacement Surgery

With the progress of cardiac surgery, the indication of cardiac valve replacement has been extended to include severely ill patients, even those with cardiac cachexia caused by long-standing mitral valve disease. Since patients with advanced cardiac functional disability are prone to fall into a low cardiac output state after valve replacement, Those severely ill, cachectic patients may be susceptible to postoperative acute renal failure. Preoperative malnutrition because of poor oral intake significantly increases the risk of adverse events after surgery and leads to increased length of stay.

Major operation itself possibly cause the dysfunction of the host homeostasis, defense mechanisms and inflammatory response, which would increase the rate of postoperative complications and prolong hospital stay. Recently, many researchers argued that immunonutritional formulas supplemented with biologically active nutrients were more effective than standard nutrition intervention in improving inflammation, promoting the wound healing and shortening the length of hospital stay (LOS) after operation.