Impact of abdominal obesity on early outcomes after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective study

Introduction: Obesity is a major health challenge in both the developed and developing countries and associated with increased surgical risk and postoperative complications. Though once considered to be a relative contraindication, laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC) in obese patients is considered to be safe in experienced hands. The aim of this study is to assess the short term outcome of LC in obese patients and those with abdominal obesity as compared to the non obese patients. Materials and Methods: A prospective analysis of all patients undergoing LC in the King Fahd General Hospital in Hofuf, Saudi Arabia was carried out. The patients were divided into obese, overweight and non obese categories using BMI as the criterion. Patients with abdominal obesity were defined as those having an abdominal girth of more than 102 cms and 88 cms for men and women respectively. Results: 1396 patients, 1055 females and 341 males underwent LC during the study period. 76% had LC performed as an elective procedure. 57.45% patients were either overweight or obese. 46.2% patients had abdominal obesity. No significant differences regard to age, sex, co morbidity disease and risk factors. There was no significant difference between the groups and the outcomes of operative mortality and morbidities. Conclusion: Obesity is emerging as health problem in Saudi Arabia, parallel with the worldwide within surgical patients. This study is concluded that Laparoscopic surgery can be safely performed in obese patients with short-term results similar to those obtained in non-obese, and obesity does not increase the risk of complications.