Low skeletal muscle mass is associated with increased hospital expenditure in patients undergoing cancer surgery of the alimentary tract.
Jeroen L A van VugtStefan BuettnerStef LevolgerRobert R J Coebergh van den BraakMustafa SukerMarcia P GasperszRon W F de BruinCornelis VerhoefCasper H C van EijckNiek BosscheBas Groot KoerkampJan N M IJzermansPublished in: PloS one (2017)
Low skeletal muscle mass was independently associated with increased hospital costs of about €4,000 per patient. Strategies to reduce skeletal muscle wasting could reduce hospital costs in an era of incremental healthcare costs and an increasingly ageing population.