title: Obesity does not impact outcomes for appendicitis.
abstract: Obesity has long been considered a risk factor for surgery. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of obesity on outcomes after appendectomy. A retrospective study was performed using discharge abstract data obtained from patients with documented body mass index (BMI)  undergoing appendectomy for appendicitis (n = 2919). Complications and length of stay for different BMI categories were compared. Obese patients (BMI > 30 kg/m(2)) had similar rates of perforation (20%) and were as likely to undergo a laparoscopic approach (85%) as nonobese patients.  On multivariable and univariate analysis, no significant differences were observed when comparing obese and nonobese patients for the outcomes of length of stay, infectious complications, and need for readmission. On multivariate analysis, laparoscopy predicted lower complication rates and  decreased length of stay. In this study, obesity did not significantly impact rates of perforation, operative approach, length of stay, infectious complications, or readmission.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-7098, USA. ddeugarte@mednet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Deugarte
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.forename: Amy H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Kaji
authors.forename: Arezou
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yaghoubian
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tolan
authors.forename: Steven L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001062:Appendectomy / Q000379:methods*; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002140:California / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult