Study finds extreme obesity common among bariatric surgery patients, should not preclude treatment
Patients with extreme obesity are more common among those undergoing metabolic and bariatric surgery than previously recognized, and although they face a greater burden of certain health conditions and surgical complications, their overall surgical risk remains relatively low, according to a new study led by researchers at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
A new study reveals that extreme obesity is more prevalent than previously thought among patients undergoing metabolic and bariatric surgery. The research, led by LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, examined 1.26 million patients from 2015 to 2023 and found that 5.3% had extreme obesity, defined as a BMI of 60 kg/m² or higher. Those with a BMI of 70 kg/m² or higher made up about 1.1% of surgeries annually, with this proportion remaining stable throughout the study period.
Extreme obesity, a rapidly growing subgroup of obesity in the United States, is medically complex and has been underrepresented in medical research and clinical care. Dr. Vance Albaugh, a physician-scientist and lead author, emphasizes the importance of recognizing this growing population's health risks and barriers to care. Despite facing more health conditions and surgical complications, patients with extreme obesity have a relatively low overall surgical risk.
The study, published in the journal Obesity, found that surgical complications increased with increasing BMI, but the absolute risk remained low. Serious complications occurred in 2.57% of cases among patients with a BMI of 70 kg/m² or higher, with a mortality rate of 0.35%. While this is higher than for patients with a BMI below 40 (0.05%), it remains low in absolute terms.
Researchers stress that extreme obesity presents significant medical and surgical challenges, but should not prevent patients from receiving effective treatment.
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