The role of phase angle and standardized phase angle in assessing nutritional status and predicting complications in gastrointestinal cancer.

Malnourished patients with gastrointestinal cancer demonstrated significantly lower phase angle values compared to those with adequate nutritional status.

• Study included 139 patients who underwent gastrointestinal tumor surgery
• Nutritional status was assessed using the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) scale
• BIA tests were performed to measure phase angle (PA) and standardized phase angle (SPA)
• A strong correlation was observed between PA and nutritional status

The low PA group was significantly associated with multiple adverse clinical and nutritional indicators compared to the high PA group.

• Low PA was associated with advanced age and a higher proportion of females
• Low PA group showed increased prevalence of chronic diseases and lower BMI
• Low PA group had elevated PG-SGA scores and higher incidence of sarcopenia
• Low PA group demonstrated reduced skeletal muscle mass and skeletal muscle index

Patients in the low SPA group exhibited a significantly higher incidence of postoperative complications relative to those in the high SPA group.

• Patients were categorized into high SPA and low SPA groups based on standardized phase angle values
• PA values were standardized to produce SPA, accounting for age- and sex-related variation
• The difference in complication rates between high and low SPA groups was statistically significant
• SPA was identified as more closely associated with postoperative infectious complications than raw PA

High SPA was significantly associated with a lower incidence of postoperative infectious complications, while TNM staging was significantly associated with a higher incidence.

• Both SPA and TNM staging were identified as significant factors associated with postoperative infectious complications
• High SPA was protective against postoperative infectious complications
• Advanced TNM staging was associated with increased risk of postoperative infectious complications
• These associations were identified through comparative analysis of 139 digestive tract cancer patients

PA demonstrated significant correlations with malnutrition, sarcopenia, and various body composition indicators in gastrointestinal cancer patients.

• Body composition indicators were measured via BIA in addition to PA and SPA
• Skeletal muscle mass and skeletal muscle index were among the body composition indicators correlated with PA
• Sarcopenia prevalence was higher in the low PA group
• Blood markers were also tested and analyzed alongside BIA-derived measures