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Techniques of Sleeve Gastrectomy and Modified Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass in Mice
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Obesity Increases Risk-Adjusted Morbidity, Mortality, and Cost Following Cardiac Surgery

Ravi K Ghanta1, Damien J LaPar2, Qianzi Zhang3

  • 1Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX ghanta@bcm.edu.

Journal of the American Heart Association
|March 10, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Obesity significantly increases cardiac surgery costs and risks. Higher body mass index (BMI) is linked to greater mortality, complications like renal failure and infections, and increased hospital expenses.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiovascular Surgery
  • Obesity Medicine
  • Health Economics

Background:

  • Rising obesity rates present challenges in healthcare.
  • Limited data exists on obesity's impact on cardiac surgery costs.
  • This study investigates the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and outcomes/costs in cardiac surgery patients.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine if increasing BMI correlates with adverse risk-adjusted outcomes after cardiac surgery.
  • To assess the association between BMI and hospital costs for patients undergoing cardiac procedures.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 13,637 cardiac surgery patients from a Society of Thoracic Surgeons database.
  • Patients categorized by BMI: normal/overweight (18.5-30), obese (30-40), and morbidly obese (>40).
  • Outcomes and costs compared across BMI groups and modeled continuously, adjusting for preoperative risk scores.

Main Results:

  • Morbidly obese patients had ~60% higher mortality, >2x renal failure, and 6.5x deep sternal wound infections compared to normal weight patients.
  • Risk-adjusted analysis confirmed BMI's significant association with mortality (P<0.001) and major morbidity (P<0.001).
  • Risk-adjusted hospital costs increased with BMI, with morbidly obese patients incurring 17.2% higher costs.

Conclusions:

  • Elevated BMI is independently associated with increased mortality, major morbidity, and healthcare costs following cardiac surgery.
  • BMI should be a more significant factor in risk stratification and resource allocation for these patients.
Abstract

Keywords:
complicationcostobesitysurgery

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