Perioperative considerations for patients with morbid obesity

The anesthetic management of the MO patient requires an important focus on a number of issues beginning with a careful preoperative evaluation and synthesizing pre-existing disease processes with the anesthetic management plan. The common misperception that all MO patients are "full stomach" has been challenged and may be a nonissue. New approaches to pre-oxygenation to lessen the likelihood of desaturation during apnea may be a valuable tool if difficulty is encountered in tracheal intubation. In addition, promising results have been demonstrated with the use of the ILMA for ventilation and for blindly establishing tracheal tube placement. Proper patient positioning is essential to aid in successful intubation when a laryngoscope is employed. Intraoperative anesthetic management can be guided with a processed electroencephalogram monitor to help improve emergence and to enhance wakefulness in the PACU. Careful consideration must be given to postoperative analgesic needs by minimizing the use of opioids and employing nonopioid analgesics including NSAIDs, alpha2-adrenergic agonists, and low doses of ketamine.