# Comparison of Postoperative Results With Prognostic Nutritional Index for Lumbar Disc Herniation

## TL;DR

This study shows that patients with a lower nutritional index have worse post-surgery outcomes for lumbar disc herniation.

## Contribution

The study empirically links the Prognostic Nutritional Index to postoperative complications and hospital stay duration in lumbar disc herniation patients.

## Key findings

- Patients with a PNI <50 had higher rates of postoperative complications and longer hospital stays.
- The PN group had significantly higher steroid use and collagen disease rates compared to the WN group.
- Body mass index was significantly higher in the well-nourished group.

## Abstract

Introduction: The prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is an immune-nutritional index simply provided by a blood test. We retrospectively compared the postoperative outcomes of patients with lumbar disc herniation divided into two groups according to the PNI.

Materials and methods: Seventy-three patients who underwent surgery at our hospital were included in the study. All patients had herniation between one of the L3/4, L4/5, or L5/S intervertebral discs and underwent one posterior lumbar interbody fusion. These patients were divided into two groups: patients with a PNI of <50 (poorly nourished (PN) group) and patients with a PNI of ≥50 (well-nourished (WN) group). Evaluation items included patient background characteristics, operative time, blood loss, postoperative complications, and length of hospital stay.

Results: The results showed that the body mass index was significantly higher in the WN group than in the PN group (p=0.0221). The rates of collagen disease, steroid use, and postoperative complications were significantly higher (p=0.0475, p=0.0073, and p=0.0211, respectively) and the length of hospital stay was significantly longer (p=0.021) in the PN group than in the WN group.

Conclusion: In conclusion, this study indicates that postoperative complications and the length of hospital stay are significantly worse in PN patients than in WN patients.