Severe malnutrition after bariatric surgery and clinic manifestations of infection

Abstract

SUMMARY This report describes the post-bariatric-surgery evolution of an obese patient who had low adherence to the diet and micronutrient supplementation. Four years after two bariatric surgeries, the patient was admitted due to transient loss of consciousness, slow thinking, anasarca, severe hypoalbuminemia, in addition to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. She had subcutaneous foot abscess but did not present fever. Received antibiotics, vitamins A, D, B12, thiamine, calcium, and parenteral nutrition. After hospitalization (twenty-eight days), there was a significant body weight reduction probably due to the disappearance of clinical anasarca. Parenteral nutrition was suspended after twenty-five days, and the oral diet was kept fractional. After hospitalization (weekly outpatient care), there was a gradual laboratory data improvement, which was now close to the reference values. Such outcome shows the need for specialized care in preventing and treating nutritional complications after bariatric surgeries as well as clinical manifestations of infection in previously undernourished patients.