OBJECTIVE

To study transthyretin concentration in patients with periprosthetic hip joint infection under perioperative enteral nutrition.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

An open prospective randomized simple blind study included 31 patients (11 women and 20 men). The study was conducted in two groups of patients who underwent redo surgery for periprosthetic hip joint infection. Patients in the 1st group (n=19) underwent combined spinal-epidural anesthesia, additional nutrition was not prescribed. Patients of the 2nd group (n=12) were anesthetized in the same fashion, but additional enteral nutrition (500 ml/day) was prescribed 3 days before surgery for 10 days. In both groups, we assessed concentration of transthyretin 3 days before surgery, 1, 3, 5 and 7 days after surgery. The SPSS Statistics software package was used for statistical analysis. We analyzed distribution normality using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and applied Student’s t-test for between-group analysis considering normal distribution of variables in both samples.

RESULTS

Concentration of transthyretin was higher in the 2nd group after 1 (p=0.003), 3 (p=0.003), 5 (p=0.024), and 7 (p=0.033) days. The lowest values in both groups were observed after 3 postoperative days.

CONCLUSION

Perioperative enteral nutrition in patients with periprosthetic hip joint infection is accompanied by higher concentration of transthyretin in postoperative period.