ARE THERE DIFFERENCES IN COMPLICATIONS AND OUTCOMES FOR OBESE PATIENTS RECEIVING LAPAROSCOPIC NEPHRECTOMY?
Tuesday, May 11, 2004 Jason W Anast*, Christopher J Kane, Joseph A Mitchell, Maxwell V Meng, Marshall L Stoller, San Francisco, CA INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of obesity in the United States has increased over the past decade. In our experience, laparoscopic transperitoneal surgery can be technically challenging in obese patients due to body habitus. We sought to determine if laparoscopic nephrectomy in obese patients is associated with worse surgical outcomes and increased complications. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed all patients undergoing non-transplant transperitoneal nephrectomy between 1998 and 2003. Our standard approach utilized 4 ports placed in an L-shaped (left side) or reverse L-shaped (right side) configuration. We defined obesity as body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 and compared this cohort to those patients with BMI < 30. Statistical analyses were performed using student's t-test and Fisher's exact test. RESULTS: We identified 137 patients undergoing lapar
