Perioperative Management of Obese Patients

Burn Outcomes at Extremes of Body Mass Index- Underweight is as problematic as Morbid Obesity

Limited evidence suggests that obesity adversely affects burn outcomes. However, the impacts of body mass index (BMI) across the continuum has not been fully characterized. Therefore, we aimed to characterize outcomes after burn injury across the BMI continuum. We hypothesized that 'normal' BMI (18.5-24.9) would have the lowest mortality and complication rates. The US National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) was queried for adult burn-injured patients from 2007-2015. Admission BMI was calculated and grouped according to World Health Organization (WHO) classification. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes of time to wound closure, length of stay (LOS), and inpatient complications were similarly assessed. Of the 116,008 burn patient encounters that were identified, 7,243 underwent at least one operation for wound closure. Mortality was lowest in the overweight (p=0.039) and obese I cohorts (BMI 25-29.9, 30.0-34.9) at 2.9% and increased in both directions of the BMI continuum to 4.1% in the underweight (p=0.032) and 5.1% in the morbidly obese (class III) group (p=0.042). Time to final wound closure was longest in the two BMI extremes. BMI >40 was associated with increased ICU days, ventilator days, renal and cardiac complications. BMI <18.5 had increased hospital days and rates of sepsis. Aberrations in metabolism associated with both increases and decreases of body weight may cause pathophysiologic changes that lead to worsened outcomes in burn-injured patients. In addition to morbidly obese patients, underweight patients also experience increased burn-related death and complications. In contrast, overweight BMI patients may have greater physiologic reserves without the burden of obesity or sarcopenia.

The Dentoalveolar Surgical Patient: Perioperative Principles Based on Contemporary Controversies

Dentoalveolar surgery comprises more than 50% of the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgeons worldwide and is the most commonly performed category of surgical procedure. Optimal strategies for management of many medical problems, however, remain unclear. Remaining current on medical and surgical perioperative strategies is a standard for best practice. This article provides contemporary approaches for the perioperative management of patients presenting for dentoalveolar surgery. Attention will be directed to the perioperative management of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. These diseases are chosen owing to controversies with respect to good scientific evidence that supports a standard of perioperative care.

The Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Perioperative Complications after Hysterectomy

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To compare intraoperative and 30-day posthysterectomy outcomes between patients who had bariatric surgery before hysterectomy and patients with a body mass index (BMI) >40 kg/m² without a history of bariatric surgery.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

A tertiary-care, academic medical center.

PATIENTS

Patients with a history of bariatric surgery and patients with BMI >40 kg/m² and no previous bariatric surgery who underwent any route of hysterectomy between January 1, 2000, and March 1, 2018.

INTERVENTIONS

After exclusion of patients with gynecologic malignancy and bariatric surgery reversal, 223 patients with a history of bariatric surgery were matched at a 1:2 ratio by year of hysterectomy to 446 randomly selected patients with a BMI >40 kg/m² and no bariatric surgery before hysterectomy. Demographics, medical comorbidities, and surgical characteristics were collected by a manual chart review. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were used to compare the incidence of intraoperative and 30-day postoperative complications. Polytomous logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of major and minor postoperative complications. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of any intra- or postoperative complications.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

The mean BMI in the bariatric surgery group was 35.2 ± 7.9 kg/m², compared with 46.3 ± 5.6 kg/m² in the control group (p <.01). Fewer patients in the bariatric surgery group had obesity-related comorbidities than the group with no previous bariatric surgery (p <.01). There were lower odds of any intraoperative complication in the bariatric surgery group than in the group with no bariatric surgery (adjusted odds ratio, 0.32; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13-0.77), after adjusting for relevant confounding factors between groups. However, there was no difference in overall postoperative complications between women who had bariatric surgery and those who did not (adjusted odds ratio, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.82-1.91). When analyzed individually, a higher proportion of patients in the bariatric surgery group had postoperative cuff separation or dehiscence (1.4% [3/223], p = .04) and urinary retention (5.8% [13/223], p <.01). Combining all perioperative complications, we found no significant difference in minor complications, defined as Clavien-Dindo Grade 1 or 2 (adjusted odds ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.68-1.60), major complications, defined as Clavien-Dindo Grade 3 or higher (adjusted odds ratio, 1.25; 95% CI, 0.61-2.54), or combined major and minor perioperative complications (adjusted odds ratio, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.63-1.44) between patients with a history of bariatric surgery and morbidly obese patients with no bariatric surgery before hysterectomy, after adjusting for relevant confounding factors between groups.

CONCLUSION

Compared with women who had a BMI >40 kg/m², patients with a history of bariatric surgery before hysterectomy had a lower odds of complications during hysterectomy. However, despite lower BMI and fewer obesity-related medical comorbidities, there was no significant difference in posthysterectomy complications and no significant differences in overall major and minor complications.

The paradox prevails: Outcomes are better in critically ill obese patients regardless of the comorbidity burden

During critical illness, obese patients have better outcomes compared to patients with normal BMI, and this is known as the obesity paradox. The difference in comorbidity burden have been implied to be responsible for the paradox. We performed a retrospective review from 2001 to 2012 of critically ill patients from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care database. We included 11,433 patients and classified them according to body mass index (BMI) and comorbidity burden (Elixhauser comorbidity measure). The odds of inpatient mortality were lower in obese patients compared to patients with normal BMI; in group with the least comorbidity score (Elixhauser <0) [OR: 0.47, CI (0.28-0.80), p-value 0.006] and higher comorbidity scores, (Elixhauser 1-5) [(OR: 0.66, CI (0.46-0.95), p-value 0.02)] and (Elixhauser 6-13) [OR: 0.69, CI (0.53-0.92), p-value 0.01]. 30-day mortality was also significantly lower in obese patients, in groups with the lowest (Elixhauser <0) [OR:49, CI (0.31-0.77), p-value 0.002] as well as the highest comorbidity burden (Elixhauser >14) [OR:0.59, CI (0.45-0.77), p-value <.001]. Subgroup analysis in patients with various comorbidities showed better outcomes in obese patients. These findings show that the decreased odds of mortality in critically ill obese patients is independent of the comorbidity burden or type of comorbidity.

Considerations for minimally invasive gynecologic surgery in obese patients

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The purpose is to review the key anatomical and physiological changes in obese patients and their effects on preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative care and to highlight the best practices to safely extend minimally invasive approaches to obese patients and provide optimal surgical outcomes in this high-risk population.

RECENT FINDINGS

Minimally invasive surgery is safe, feasible, and cost-effective for obese patients. Obesity is associated with anatomical and physiological changes in almost all organ systems, which necessitates a multimodal approach and an experienced, multidisciplinary team. Preoperative counseling, evaluation, and optimization of medical comorbidities are critical. The optimal minimally invasive approach is primarily determined by the patient's anatomy and pathology. Specific intraoperative techniques and modifications exist to maximize surgical exposure and panniculus management. Postoperatively, comprehensive medical management can help prevent common complications in obese patients, including hypoxemia, venous thromboembolism, acute kidney injury, hyperglycemia, and prolonged hospitalization.

SUMMARY

Given significantly improved patient outcomes, minimally invasive approaches to gynecological surgery should be considered for all obese patients with particular attention given to specific perioperative considerations and appropriate referral to an experienced minimally invasive surgeon.

Perioperative care map improves compliance with best practices for the morbidly obese

BACKGROUND

Morbid obesity can complicate perioperative management. Best practice guidelines have been published but are typically followed only in bariatric patients. Little is known regarding physician awareness of and compliance with these clinical recommendations for nonbariatric operations. Our study evaluated if an educational intervention could improve physician recognition of and compliance with established best practices for all morbidly obese operatively treated patients.

METHODS

A care map outlining best practices for morbidly obese patients was distributed to all surgeons and anesthesiologists at 4 teaching hospitals in 2013. Pre- and postintervention surveys were sent to participants in 2012 and in 2015 to evaluate changes in clinical practice. A chart audit performed postintervention determined physician compliance with distributed guidelines.

RESULTS

In the study, 567 physicians completed the survey in 2012 and 375 physicians completed the survey in 2015. Postintervention, statistically significant improvements were seen in the percentage of surgeons and anesthesiologists combined who reported changing their management of morbidly obese, operatively treated patients to comply with best practices preoperatively (89% vs 59%), intraoperatively (71% vs 54%), postoperatively (80% vs 57%), and overall (88% vs 72%). Results were similar when surgeons and anesthesiologists were analyzed separately. A chart audit of 170 cases from the 4 hospitals found that 167 (98%) cases were compliant with best practices.

CONCLUSION

After care map distribution, the percentage of physicians who reported changing their management to match best practices significantly improved. These findings highlight the beneficial impact this educational intervention can have on physician behavior. Continued investigation is needed to evaluate the influence of this intervention on clinical outcomes.

The Critical Care Obesity Paradox and Implications for Nutrition Support

Obesity is a leading cause of preventable death worldwide. The prevalence of obesity has been increasing and is associated with an increased risk for other co-morbidities. In the critical care setting, nearly one third of patients are obese. Obese critically ill patients pose significant physical and on-physical challenges to providers, including optimization of nutrition therapy. Intuitively, obese patients would have worse critical care-related outcome. On the contrary, emerging data suggests that critically ill obese patients have improved outcomes, and this phenomenon has been coined "the obesity paradox." The purposes of this review will be to outline the historical views and pathophysiology of obesity and epidemiology of obesity, describe the challenges associated with obesity in the intensive care unit setting, review critical care outcomes in the obese, define the obesity-critical care paradox, and identify the challenges and role of nutrition support in the critically ill obese patient.