Lighter patients have greater post-surgery risk, study concludes
Patients with a normal to low body mass index (BMI) are at a greater risk of dying within 30 days of surgery than those who are overweight, according to a report published this week in the Archives of Surgery journal.The American study looked at over 189,000 patients who underwent surgery in 2005 and 2006 and compared their BMI with their risk of mortality.
The results showed that those with an index of less than 23.1 were at a 40 per cent greater risk of death than those placed in the overweight category.
Based on these findings, the report concludes that "body mass index is a significant predictor of mortality within 30 days of surgery".
Although appearing to offer protection to patients after surgery, a high BMI is usually associated with poor health, including an increased risk of conditions such as heart disease and type-2 diabetes.
BMI is an estimate of a person’s body fat based on height and weight and any figure between 18.5 and 24.9 is rated as 'normal'.
