Thin people more likely to die after surgery - study

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Finally, an excuse to pack on some extra pounds over Christmas - thinner people are more likely to die after surgery than those who are overweight.

A new study by the University of Virginia School of Medicine has found that thin and normal-weight people may have a higher risk of dying soon after surgery than patients who are overweight, reported Time.

The reason for the link is not clear, but the findings suggest that BMI, or body mass index, could help identify patients who might be at greater risk after some procedures.

Researchers looked at data of 189,533 patients who had undergone various general and vascular surgeries. Among these patients, 3245 died within 30 days of surgery.

When patients were compared by their BMI, researchers found those in the lowest quintile, with a BMI of less than 23.1 - in the thin to normal range - were 40 per cent more likely to die than those in the middle quintile of BMI (26.3 to 29.6).

Among the patients with a BMI of less than 23.1, about 2.8 per cent died soon after surgery, compared with 1.5 per cent of those in the middle quintile of BMI and only 1 per cent of obese patients in the top quintile, with a BMI of 35.3 or higher, the study found.

A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal weight, 25 to 29.9 is overweight, 30 or higher is obese, and less than 18.5 is underweight.

However, when researchers looked more closely at some surgeries - such as surgeries to resect the bowel or form a colostomy, gall bladder removal, hernia repair, mastectomy, and surgeries to clean out wounds - they found that some procedures showed the opposite association with weight: a higher risk of death for patients with higher BMI.

- HERALD ONLINE