Sarcopenia Assessment and Nutritional Interventions in Surgical Patients: Systematic Review of Perioperative Outcomes and Long-Term Survival

This journal discusses the increasing attention to sarcopenia as a biological vulnerability factor in surgical patients, amidst the high variability of postoperative outcomes. The research aims to synthesize evidence related to sarcopenia assessment methods and the effectiveness of perioperative nutritional interventions on morbidity and survival. The method used is a PRISMA-based systematic literature review of 38 recent studies. The results show that preoperative sarcopenia is consistently associated with increased complications, longer hospital stays, and decreased long-term survival. Nutritional interventions—especially those based on protein and immunonutrition—can reduce the risk of complications and aid recovery, although they do not completely eliminate the negative impact of sarcopenia. From a policy perspective, integrating sarcopenia screening and optimizing nutrition in perioperative management is important to improve the quality of surgical services and the resilience of the health system.