New research finds that excessively obese individuals may have an increased risk for certain conditions following heart bypass surgery compared to normal weight people. The study indicated that obese patients are susceptible to infection after the procedure and prone to longer inpatient stays.
Investigators recorded data from over 7,500 Canadians who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery—which redirects blood flow to the heart to circumvent clogged arteries—between 2003 and 2014. Those with a body mass index (BMI) over 40 were considered severly obese. A normal BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, analysts said.
For instance, the normal weight for a woman that’s 5 foot 4 inches should range between 110 to 145 pounds. She would be classified as overweight at 146 to 174 pounds and obese at any weight over 174, according to U.S. News report.
Obese patients spent an average of one more day in the hospital and individuals who developed an infection increased their inpatient times by three-fold compared to patients who were not obese. Adding to the threat, excessively obese patients were 56 percent more prone to complications following a month of surgery; moderately obese individuals had a 35 percent increase in risk.
Senior study author Mary Forhan in a journal news release said, “Based on the results of this study, it appears that addressing infection risk might be an effective strategy to decrease the length-of-stay for patients with obesity who undergo coronary artery bypass surgery.” Forhan is an assistant professor in the department of occupational therapy, faculty of rehabilitation medicine at University of Alberta in Edmonton.
Yet with all the data, researchers still don’t understand why obese patients are more susceptible to infections. The study also didn’t prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship. “We need further study that includes ways of preventing infection using evidence-based methods, and determining if such methods meet the needs of coronary artery bypass patients with moderate to severe obesity,” Forhan said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly 400,000 people in the United States have coronary artery bypass performed on them. Roughly seven in 10 adults over 20 years old are considered obese.
The study was published June 1 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.