OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the variation of serum albumin concentration in surgery of the spine and its relation to clinical effects in the postoperative. METHODS: prospective observational study on the values of serum albumin of 55 patients undergoing spine surgery.Blood samples were collected one day before and 24 hours after the procedure. The paired t test was performed to evaluate the change parameters albumin, hemoglobin and hematocrit. The presence of association between the degree of variation in levels of albumin (<1 g/dL or >1 g/dL) and the variables of interest: complications, transfusions, procedures performed, patients' age and sex and diagnosis were assessed by χ2 test or the χ2 likelihood ratio when appropriate. RESULTS: the average reduction of this protein was of 0.58 g/dL, ranging from 0 to 1.8 g/dL. Of the patients, 78.2% showed albumin values in the postoperative period below the normal range. Only two patients presented with complications during the 30 days of follow-up. The group with the correction of deformities showed 100% of patients with variation of >1 g/dL. CONCLUSION: there was an influence of the surgical trauma in reducing serum albumin, on average, 0.58 g/dL in surgery of the spine. It was not possible to associate this decrease to complications in the postoperative period after 30 days of follow-up of these patients.
Serum albumin; Surgical procedures; operative; Spine; Spinal diseases; Spine
