Surgical Complications Twelve Times More Likely In Obese Patients

Cut me.



Another reason to have the bronto-sapiens pay for their own sick care and sign waivers before receiving sick care.

Obese patients are nearly 12 times more likely to suffer a complication following elective plastic surgery than their normal-weight counterparts, according to new research by Johns Hopkins scientists.

"Our data demonstrate that obesity is a major risk factor for complications following certain kinds of elective surgery," says Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H, an associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and leader of the study published online in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Not only are these findings relevant to physicians who need to pay special heed to issues such as potential surgical site infections in heavier patients but, the authors argue, they are relevant to policymakers whose increasingly applied metrics for surgical quality and reimbursement do not account for the higher risk of worse outcomes in the obese.

Fight back - this is costing all of us.