Impact of obesity on minimally invasive colorectal surgery: A comparative study and retrospective study

Background: Because of its many advantages, minimally invasive surgery, has emerged as the gold standard for treating
colorectal disorders in the industrialized world. Obesity is a technological hurdle for minimally invasive colorectal
resection surgery as it grows more common. Numerous research projects have looked at the clinical results of surgery in
obese patients.
Objective: To evaluate the impact of obesity on minimally invasive colorectal surgery.
Patients and Methods: This retrospective comparative study was conducted at the Colorectal Unit, General Surgery
Department, Ain Shams Hospitals on patients who underwent laparoscopic colorectal surgery for various diseases on an
elective basis through the last 3 years. They were divided into two groups: control (nonobese) and study (obese) groups. We
collected data on the patients from records in the colorectal unit. Patients’ data were collected from perioperative records
of each patient (intraoperative events, conversion rate, and complications). Cases were assessed as regards operative time,
conversion rate, intraoperative events, chest problems from anesthesia due to CO2 inflation to make pneumoperitoneum
for the laparoscope, and early postoperative complications such as surgical-site infection, leakage, and hospital stay.
Results: As regards operative time, there was a statistically significant long time of operation time in the obese group in
comparison to the nonobese group with a P value less than 0.001. As regards intraoperative events and conversion rate,
the estimated blood loss was a bit higher in the obese group with no statistical significance. Five cases in the obese group
were converted to open, while only one case in the nonobese group was converted to open. However, this was found
statistically nonsignificant with a P value of 0.193. We had nine cases of surgical-site infection in the obese group versus
two cases in the nonobese group.
Conclusion: We can conclude that obesity had an adverse impact on outcomes of minimally invasive colorectal surgeries.