ABSTRACT
It has been said that outward appearances do not always convey things as they really are. This is certainly true with respect to surgical nutrition. In our society, where fast food diets have become the norm and a sedentary lifestyle is all too commonplace, protein-calorie malnutrition is being increasingly recognized in patients requiring hospitalization, despite how healthy a patient appears outwardly. Failure to identify this problem prior to embarking on a surgical procedure can have devastating effects on the outcome, not only from the standpoint of postoperative complications, but also, unfortunately and all too frequently, whether survival is impacted as well. Thus, it behooves the surgeon to have a thorough understanding of those factors that contribute to both good health and malnutrition and an understanding of how an operation or other stressful events can alter the adequacy of nutritional balance, and what strategies need to be employed to ensure that a healthy nutritional environment is maintained to minimize postoperative morbidity and mortality. The present chapter addresses these issues.
