Examining the relationship between preoperative nutritional and symptom assessment and postoperative atrial fibrillation in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients: a retrospective cohort study.

Objective: The study aimed to examine the relationship between preoperative nutritional status, symptom burden, and the occurrence of postoperative atrial fibrillation in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma patients.

Methods: The study, conducted in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at the Affiliated Huai'an No. 1 People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, applied the NRS 2002, SGA and MSAS scoring systems as measures of nutritional status and symptom occurrence in patients diagnosed with ESCC. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to evaluate the association between nutritional scores, symptom scores, and postoperative complications.

Results: The research found a significant correlation between high MSAS scores and postoperative atrial fibrillation. Patients with high symptom burden also tended to have nutritional risk or malnutrition according to the NRS2002 and SGA scores.

Conclusion: There is a need for healthcare providers to pay attention to ESCC patients' physical and psychological symptoms. Close monitoring of nutritional status and timely nutritional interventions should be integrated into these patients' care plans as they have been found to be related to postoperative complications such as atrial fibrillation.