Morbidly obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) higher than 40 kg/m2 stayed in the hospital longer after emergency surgery than severely obese patients who had a BMI of 35 kg/m2 or higher in a retrospective, single-center study of 111 obese adults.
The rates of complications among these severely and morbidly obese patients were high, with 42% experiencing some type of postsurgical complication. This included 40% who required critical care after surgery, 31% who required reoperation, and 17% who died in the hospital. These rates are higher than previous studies had found in mixed-BMI populations.
Morbidly Obese Have Longer LOS After Emergency Surgery
