Background: The rapid national expansion in bariatric surgical procedures has been accompanied by recent reports of significant complication rates. This has resulted in increased public scrutiny of bariatric surgery outcomes, restrictions on patient eligibility criteria by payors, and credentialing requirements for providers. This focus on outcomes has resulted in interest in bariatric risk analysis.
Methods: During an 8-year period, 1210 patients were evaluated for bariatric surgery. Clinical information was recorded prospectively. Co-morbid medical conditions were analyzed according to proven surgical risk factors: age, body mass index (BMI), and male gender.
Results: The prevalence of many co-morbid conditions and the total number of co-morbid conditions correlate highly with increasing age, increasing BMI, and male gender.
Conclusion: The established surgical risk factors, age, BMI, and male gender, are markers for a sicker patient population, as evidenced by a greater obesity disease burden.