Poor Heart Health Raises Bariatric Surgery Risk

TUESDAY, Aug. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Extremely obese people with poor cardiopulmonary fitness had longer surgery times and suffered more post-surgery complications than those with higher fitness levels, a U.S. study says.

Bariatric surgery reduces the size of the stomach in order to help people lose weight.

This study included 109 morbidly obese patients with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 48.7 (for comparison purposes, a BMI of 30 is considered the threshold for obesity). They were divided into three groups. Those in the first group had the highest BMI and lowest cardiopulmonary fitness and those in the third group had the lowest BMI and the highest cardiopulmonary fitness.

Patients in the first group were seven times more (16.6 percent) likely to suffer primary complications -- such as death, angina, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, renal failure and/or stroke -- than patients in the other two groups (2.8 percent).

Surgery times were also nearly 25 minutes longer in the first group than in the third group. Patients in the first group also had longer hospital stays and higher readmission rates. They were more likely to be women, smokers, older, non-Caucasian, and have diabetes and hypertension.

"Random complications may occur during bariatric surgery. However, complications may become more apparent in patients with low levels of cardiopulmonary fitness, because they have very little pulmonary reserve and have reduced ability to withstand surgery," researcher Dr. Peter A. McCullough, of William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Mich., said in a prepared statement.

The findings were published study in the August issue of the journal Chest.

More information

The American Medical Association has more about bariatric surgery.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: American College of Chest Physicians, news release, Aug. 7, 2006

Last Updated: Aug. 9, 2006