Which is more effective in determining the risk of mortality and complications after coronary artery bypass graft surgery; Body mass index or albumin?

INTRODUCTION: Preoperative risk analysis is important in predicting postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing cardiac surgery..These analyzed risk factors influence both the mortality and the morbidity results of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The aim of this study is to emphasize that the serum albumin value is a predictor of survival during the preoperative period for the patients that we prepared for surgery, and to indicate whether body mass index (BMI) is as valuable as albumin in predicting survival and postoperative period results.
METHODS: This study included patients who underwent CABG surgery between 2019 -2020 at the Cardiac Surgery Center. Patient’s demographic information and all laboratory data were collected. Patients were grouped according to BMI and serum albumin values. Descriptive statistics for the continuous variables were presented as Mean, Standard deviation while count and percentages for categorical variables.
RESULTS: A total of 174 patients, who underwent CABG surgery were included in the study.While postoperative complications were seen in 3.2% of patients with high BMI (>30 kg/m2), these complications did not develop in patients with low BMI (<20 kg/m2) (P=0.034).Patients who have serum albumin levels below 2.5g/dL are 22 times more likely to exitus than patients who have normal albumin levels (p=0.001, OR=22.246) whereas patients with normal BMI, obese patients have 16 times higher risk of exitus after bypass (OR=15.952)

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: When we compare albumin and BMI, more extensive studies are needed to determine whether low serum albumin or increased BMI can independently predict the risk factors for poor short-term surgical outcomes.