Adductor Pollicis Muscle Thickness as an Anthropometric Parameter in Surgical Patients

Background: The Nutritional Status (NS) of surgical patients must be followed during the hospital length due to the risk of these patients develop some degree of malnutrition. A new technique for evaluating the muscle compartment is the assessment of the adductor pollicis muscle thickness (APMT). Objective: To evaluate the APMT as a parameter for assessing NS in pre-surgical patients and compare it with other traditional measures of nutritional assessment. Methods: Case-series involving 107 adult and elderly patients with more than 19 years of age, of both sexes, admitted at the Hospital das Clínicas, Federal University of Pernambuco. Data collection was done from March to October 2010. NS was determined by Body Mass Index (BMI), APMT of the dominant (DAPMT) and non-dominant (NDAPMT) hands and the adequacy percent of arm circumference (AC), triceps skinfold (TSF), arm muscle circumference (AMC) and corrected arm muscle area (CAMA). Subjective Muscle Assessment (SMA) was applied on the same day of the anthropometric collect. Results: For the indicators AMC, CAMA, DAPMT and NDAPMT, the most of the individuals were eutrophic. Malnutrition was most often detected by TSF (42.1%). In SMA, there was a significant agreement between the changes of the adductor pollicis muscle and the objective APMT. There was a positive statistical correlation in all the classical anthropometric variables and APMT. Conclusion: The APMT was as a direct, easy, low cost, safe and reliable method in assessing the NS of surgical patients.