Nutritional and inflammatory biomarkers as predictors of prolonged hospital stay after surgery for oral…

Cohort studyJournal of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery : official publication of the European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery· Aug 2026

Nutritional and inflammatory biomarkers as predictors of prolonged hospital stay after surgery for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.

Rafael Gómez Fernández, Claudia García Sierra, Jaime Piedras Castro … Luis Miguel Redondo González

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Microsurgery & FlapsCohort studyPrognosis

Low pre-surgery nutritional index linked to nearly 3-fold higher odds of prolonged hospital stay

Nutritional and inflammatory biomarkers as predictors of prolonged hospital stay after surgery for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.

Rafael Gómez Fernández … Luis Miguel Redondo González

Journal of cranio-maxillo-facial surgery · Aug 2026

Background

Length of hospital stay (LOS) after surgery for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma) reflects both surgical complexity and host status.

Methods

Single-centre retrospective cohort study of 168 patients who underwent primary curative-intent surgery for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma between 2015 and 2021.

n = 168 patients

Results

poor nutrition before surgery nearly triples the odds of a longer hospital stay

OR 2.87 (95% CI 1.19 to 6.91)

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Median LOS was 16.5 days (IQR 11-23); prolonged stay occurred in 46 patients (27.4%).

Optimal cutoffs were PNI <35.8 (AUC 0.654) and postoperative fibrinogen ≥553 mg/dL (AUC 0.620).

More results

Kaplan-Meier curves confirmed significantly longer admissions in patients with low PNI or elevated postoperative fibrinogen (log-rank p < 0.001 for both).

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Conclusion · 1 of 2

Day-of-surgery PNI and postoperative fibrinogen identify patients with oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma at increased risk of prolonged hospital stay.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Their predictive value is most relevant in non-microsurgical patients, in whom proactive nutritional optimisation could shorten admission.

Nutritional and inflammatory biomarkers as predictors of prolonged hospital stay after surgery for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.

Nutritional and inflammatory biomarkers as predictors of prolonged hospital stay after surgery for oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.

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