Purpose: The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score is a recently developed measure that is calculated using the serum albumin level, total cholesterol level, and lymphocyte counts. The aim of this study was to examine whether the CONUT score can predict post-operative outcomes in elderly patients undergoing curative gastrectomy.
Patients and methods: Pre-operative CONUT scores were evaluated from August 2014 to September 2016 in 357 gastric cancer patients who were scheduled to undergo curative gastrectomy. The patients were divided into three groups according to pre-operative CONUT scores: normal, light, moderate, and severe. We then calculated the association between the patient’s CONUT score and post-operative complications.
Results: CONUT scores were statistically associated with age (P = 0.015), body mass index (P  < 0.001), pre-operative hemoglobin level (P  < 0.001), tumor-node-metastasis stage (P < 0.001), surgical method (P  = 0.036), and post-operative complications (P  < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that age and the CONUT score were independent predictors of post-operative complications and 1-year survival.
Conclusion: CONUT scores can be used to predict post-operative complications and 1-year survival in elderly gastric cancer patients undergoing curative gastrectomy. They can also be used to classify the nutritional status of patients, which can be helpful for pre–and post-operative nutritional management.
Keywords: gastric cancer, nutrition, post-operative complications, CONUT score, elderly patients