Body Contouring Surgery Risk Rises with Increased Body ...( Study reveals close correlation b...),Health

Study reveals close correlation between degree of obesity and complications arising from popular aesthetic surgical procedure

NEW YORK, July 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A recent study investigating the relationship between complications of body contouring surgery and body mass index has confirmed an increase in the occurrence of such complications with worsening degree of obesity. Findings from the study are published in the July/August 2008 issue of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal, the peer-reviewed publication of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS).

In order to determine the degree of risk associated with obesity when undergoing body contouring surgery, a retrospective review was conducted of 129 patients who underwent a single body contouring procedure from 1993 and 2002. Patients were categorized based on their body mass index (BMI), clinical degree of being overweight, into groups including ideal (BMI <25), overweight (BMI 25-30), obese (BMI 31-35), morbidly obese (BMI 36-40), and severely morbidly obese (BMI >41). Complications were recorded into minor and major categories: minor complications included postoperative wound infection, or pockets of fluid (seroma) or blood (hematoma) in or around the wound; major complications included any wound requiring dressing changes, need for hospital readmission or prolonged admission, need for re-operation, or death.

Of the total number of patients, three of the ideal group experienced either minor or major complications, as compared to six in the overweight group; 10 in the obese group; eight in the morbidly obese group; and 22 in the severely morbidly obese group.

A statistically significant association was found between increasing BMI and an increased number of complications and poorer outcomes. Specifically, the percentage of complication increased as weight category increased. Minor complications increased from 3.3% in the ideal weight group to 46.9% in the se
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