Obesity as a risk factor for unanticipated admissions after ambulatory surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that obesity is an independent risk factor for unplanned hospital admission or readmission among patients scheduled for ambulatory surgery in a tertiary medical center.


METHODS
Existing databases were used to identify 235 obese patients (body mass index [BMI] >40) scheduled for ambulatory surgery from January 2, 2002, through December 31, 2003, at Mayo Clinic's site in Rochester, MN. Each patient was matched to a normal-weight control (BMI <25) by age, sex, surgical procedure, type of anesthesia, and date of surgery, and the medical records of all patients were reviewed. Conditional logistic regression analysis was performed to assess whether obesity is an independent risk factor for unplanned postoperative hospital admission. In all cases, 2-sided tests were performed. P<.05 was considered statistically significant.


RESULTS
Obese patients (mean +/- SD BMI, 44+/-4) were matched with control patients (mean +/- SD BMI, 23+/-2). Comorbidity was more frequent in the obese cohort. The frequency of unplanned hospital admission did not differ between groups: 61 obese patients (26.0%) and 52 control patients (22.1%) were admitted (odds ratio, 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 0.8-2.0; P=.30).


CONCLUSIONS
Obesity is not a significant independent risk factor for unplanned admission after ambulatory surgery, suggesting that obesity per se should not prevent ambulatory surgery from being scheduled.
Hofer
Roger E
RE
Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Kai
Tetsuya
T
Decker
Paul A
PA
Warner
David O
DO
D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000379:methods; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors