Improving Preoperative Screening and Postoperative Nutrition in Orthopedic Sarcoma and Spine Patients: Pilot Study

All patients will be treated according to standard of care for their orthopedic injuries, including standard nutritional support in the preoperative period. Patients admitted to our academic Level I trauma center with spinal fractures and sarcoma requiring limb reconstruction will be approached for consent to participate in this study. Consented patients will be prospectively enrolled at the time of admission. We will obtain relevant patient medical history, standard preoperative labs, radiographic imaging, and nutritional assessment at the time of admission. Patients will be assessed for the presence of sarcopenia utilizing ultrasound measures of skeletal muscle as previously described.

All patients will be evaluated by a clinical dietitian or dietetic assistant for nutritional assessment as part of the standard of care. In addition to screening for sarcopenia and malnutrition, we will assess the clinical benefit of oral nutritional supplementation with essential branched-chain amino acids in a population of trauma patients. Patients providing written informed consent will be enrolled in a prospective RCT to assess nutritional supplementation with conditionally essential branched-chain amino acids. Patients will be randomly assigned to receive standard nutritional support or standard nutrition plus oral supplementation with a commercially available nutritional supplement containing essential branched chain amino acids (Juven, Abbot Nutrition). Similar combinations of essential amino acids have previously demonstrated protective effects against skeletal muscle wasting and medical complications in immobilized critically ill patients. Patients will be prospectively followed for 12 months from the time of admission to assess clinical outcomes. Our primary outcome measures include skeletal muscle mass changes, wound healing complications,