Olgun Deniz, Medical doctor: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: Sarcopenia is a well-known concept in geriatric medicine defined as the progressive degeneration of muscle mass and strength, as well as decreased physical activities in older adults. Acute sarcopenia, secondary to an acute stressful event (e.g., increased length of hospital stay), might not always recover entirely and may lead to or hasten the development of chronic sarcopenia. The study aimed to show how muscle ultrasonographic parameters change in acutely admitted hospitalized older patients.
Methods: Ultrasonographic measurements of the rectus femoris (RF) and the vastus lateralis (VL) muscle, and muscle strength through hand grip strength were performed on the 1st, 8th, and 15th-day of admission to the hospital. The nutritional state of the patients was assessed through the Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF). The SARC-F (a five-item questionnaire) and FRAIL-scale (short 5-question assessment of fatigue, resistance, aerobic capacity, illnesses, and loss of weight) were completed as routine screening questionnaires for sarcopenia and frailty, respectively.
Results: A total of 25 community-dwelling patients (60 % female) aged a median of 73 (65-89) years were included in the study. Most patients were at least at risk of malnutrition and sarcopenia on admission according to mean MNA-SF of 9.9 and SARC-F of 4, respectively. Median length of stay is 10 (range 7 to 18) days. Most of the patients were frail as median FRAIL score 3, and admitted predominantly for infection. Two of the patients died during the hospitalization. There was a significant decline in thickness (13.66 ± 2.38 vs. 13.08 ± 2.15 vs. 12.76 ± 2.28, p=0.011), cross-sectional area (5.33 ± 0.82 vs. 5.17 ± 0.79 vs. 5.05 ± 0.77, p=0.013), and angle (7.20 ± 0.84 vs. 7.10 ± 0.74 vs. 6.90 ± 0.86, p=0.046) of the rectus femoris muscle but not in vastus lateralis muscle thickness (11.98 ± 2.64 vs. 11.48 ± 2.59 vs. 11.64 ± 2.52, p=0.103) through the 1st, 8th, and 15th day measurements. Handgrip strength measurements showed non-significant declines among males and females during hospitalization.
Conclusions: Even a short period of hospitalization may result in a significant reduction of ultrasonographic muscle thickness measurement. Acute sarcopenia may be assessed via bedside USG measurements in geriatric inpatients.
