Pre and Postoperative Muscle Wastage and Sarcopenia Using CT Scans in Patients Undergoing Pelvic Exenteration Surgery

Author Info

Sophie Hogan James Farag Claire Wilton Felicity Ritorni Virginia Chan Simon Lai Anna Rangan Michael Solomon Sharon Carey

Corresponding Author

Sophie Hogan
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia

A B S T R A C T

Background: Sarcopenia is associated with poor postoperative outcomes in oncology patients. Computed tomography (CT) scans can be used to identify muscle wasting and sarcopenia. This study aimed to investigate if pelvic exenteration surgery leads to muscle wastage and thus, induction or exacerbation of sarcopenia. Methods: This is a retrospective review involving the analysis of CT scans before and after pelvic exenteration surgery to determine skeletal muscle index and diagnose sarcopenia. Other clinical and nutritional factors were collected. Results: A total of 34 patients met the inclusion criteria. Postoperative skeletal muscle index was significantly lower compared to preoperative skeletal muscle index (p=0.008). The incidence of sarcopenia was 62% preoperatively and rose to 74% postoperatively (p=0.073). Postoperative sarcopenia was not significantly associated with complications or mortality. Conclusion: The skeletal muscle index significantly decreased postoperatively, indicating that pelvic exenteration surgery leads to muscle wastage. The use of CT scans to recognise sarcopenia would allow focusing of resources for those at risk.

Article Info

Article Type

Research Article

Publication history

Received: Wed 09, Dec 2020
Accepted: Wed 23, Dec 2020
Published: Thu 31, Dec 2020

Copyright

© 2023 Sophie Hogan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.JSCR.2020.04.10