Originally published October 28 2005
Research shows anesthesia is riskier for obese patients
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
James Blum, a resident physician at the University of Michigan's anesthesiology department, led a study of 25,000 cases out of which 380 complications with anesthesia arose, the majority of those involving obese patients.
Obesity may raise the risk of complications from anesthesia, a new study shows.
However, obese patients are "very safe" undergoing anesthesia, researcher James Blum, MD, says in a news release.
He and his colleagues reviewed records of more than 25,000 surgery patients at an unnamed academic medical center.
Most patients were overweight or obese, based on body mass index (BMI).
Only a third of the patients were of normal BMI.
"We have found compelling evidence that obese patients are very safe undergoing an anesthetic, but our preliminary data suggest that they are at a greater risk for airway, respiratory, and other complications," says Blum in the news release.
Medical staff may have had trouble inserting breathing tubes in obese patients, or they may have had to reinsert breathing tubes in such patients, the study shows.
Three out of 10 U.S. adults aged 20 and older are obese.
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