Purpose of review: To review recent reports on techniques and tools for screening and diagnosis of malnutrition in gastrointestinal disease, in the light of the newly published definition of malnutrition by the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM).
Recent findings: In 2019, the GLIM concept of malnutrition was published advocating a two-step procedure; first, screening, and second confirmation of the diagnosis that requires a combination of phenotypic and etiologic criteria. Three studies in patients with gastrointestinal disorders so far published utilize the GLIM criteria. Otherwise, traditional tools, as Nutrition Risk Screening-2002, Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool or Subjective Global Assessment are used, and confirm that malnutrition is observed in a substantial number of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), serious liver disorders and various forms of pancreatitis. Common for these disorders is an extensive loss of muscle mass, which is one of the GLIM phenotypic criteria. Such patients often undergo abdominal computed tomography scans that enable psoas muscle mass at L3 or L4 level to be calculated.
Summary: The GLIM criteria for the diagnosis of malnutrition are feasible for IBD, liver and pancreas diseases. Pending studies expect to provide data on the clinical relevance to diagnose malnutrition by the GLIM concept.