BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The nutritional status and hospital feeding practices of surgical patients in Vietnam are not well documented. Based on a cross-sectional study at Bach Mai Hospital (BMH), the prevalence of malnutrition was found to be 33% in the surgical ward using a body mass index (BMI<18.5 kg/m(2). We conducted an observational study over a three month period to evaluate the feeding practices in the gastrointestinal (GI) surgery ward at Bach Mai Hospital (BMH) in Hanoi, Vietnam. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Investigators from the U.S. and the Vietnamese National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) enrolled 72 subjects admitted for elective GI surgery in an observational study at BMH. Baseline anthropometrics and changes over time, body mass index (BMI), Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) and daily kcal and protein intake from oral diet, tube feeding, and parenteral nutrition (PN) from admission until discharge were documented. RESULTS: A total of 50% of subjects scored a B or C on the SGA; 48% of subjects had a BMI<18.5, while mean mid upper arm circumference was in the lownormal range (24±4 cm). Nearly all patients (98%) were given PN postoperatively, with oral feeding starting on an average of postoperative day 4. Only one patient was tube fed. Mean daily total calorie intake was 15 kcal/kg/day and protein intake was 0.61 g/kg/day during hospitalization. Micronutrient supplementation was minimal in subjects receiving PN. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital malnutrition in surgical patients in Vietnam is a significant problem, peri-operative feeding appears suboptimal and use of early postoperative PN was routine.
