Prevalence of obesity in surgical patients undergoing abdominal surgery at Mayo Hospital Lahore Pakistan

Background: obesity poses problems for the patient and surgeon and it is increasing worldwide. it increases the risk of complications in operative and postoperative period aim: to assess the frequency of obese patients undergoing abdominal surgery. methods: this was descriptive case series and conducted from 06-01-2015 to 05-07-2015 on 120 patients in east and north surgical wards mayo hospital lahore. age height and weight of all the patients was noted. from height and weight,body mass index (bmi) was calculated to determine the obesity of the patients. all this information was recorded on a predesigned proforma. results: total of 120 patients undergoing abdominal surgery were included in the study. the age of the patients varied from 14 to 65 years having mean value of 37.10 (sd±10.26). there were 63(52.5%) males and 57(47.5%) females. the minimum height of the patients was 150.10 cm and maximum was 182 cm having mean of 165.94(sd±8.58). the weight of the patients varied from 58kg to 121 kg with mean weight of 95.23kg (sd±17.26). body mass index ranged from 19.06 kgm-2 to 36.14kgm-2 having mean value of 28.64kgm-2 (sd±4.71). obesity was found in 37(30.8%) patients and there were 83(69.2%) non-obese patients undergoing abdominal surgery. conclusion: obesity is quite prevalent and is increasing. it is be considered as a comorbid factor affecting the operative and postoperative course of patients. © 2016,lahore medical and dental college. all rights reserved.