PAEA Surgery End Of Rotation (EOR) Practice Exam

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Prepare for the PAEA Surgery End Of Rotation Exam. Enhance your learning with expertly curated questions and detailed explanations to excel in your surgical rotation assessment. Start today!

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What is the best indicator to monitor a patient’s nutritional status?

Albumin
Prealbumin
Transferrin
Body Mass Index

The correct answer is: Prealbumin

Prealbumin is considered the best indicator to monitor a patient’s nutritional status because it has a shorter half-life compared to other proteins, such as albumin. This characteristic makes prealbumin more sensitive to rapid changes in a patient's nutritional intake or nutritional status. Prealbumin levels can reflect changes in nutrition within a few days, which is especially useful for assessing ongoing nutritional improvement or deterioration in patients, especially in a hospital setting. Additionally, prealbumin is synthesized by the liver, and its levels can drop in response to malnutrition, inflammatory states, or illness. Monitoring prealbumin levels allows healthcare providers to gain insight into the effectiveness of nutritional interventions more quickly than relying on other indicators that take longer to respond to changes in nutritional status. Thus, utilizing prealbumin to gauge nutritional status supports timely and informed clinical decision-making in managing patient care.