Background

Obesity stigma associated with perceptions of obesity care due to sheer size, increased surgical risk and overall poor surgical outcomes can be removed through increased perioperative education, collaboration and case by case optimization with early anesthesia involvement in the acute care community hospital setting.

Methods

Case by case individualized optimization with early anesthesia and perioperative assessment of surgical candidates with BMI greater than 70.Retrospective surgical outcome review of 40 patients with body mass index (BMI) greater than 70 from January 2021 to December 2023 at a 73 bed community hospital utilizing the MBSAQIP database for data abstract for a single site.

Results

Surgery was safely performed on 40 surgical candidates with BMI greater than 70 with zero mortality in 30 days and zero mortality at one year. Of the 40 surgeries performed, there were only 2 occurrences post-operatively. The average length of stay was 1.8 days.

Conclusions

Weight Loss Surgery for patients with BMI greater than 70 can be safely performed at a small community hospital by eliminating the preconceived stigmatizing barriers to surgery through increased education, collaboration and case by case optimization with anesthesia and perioperative team early involvement and partnership.