Anesthetic Implications of Obesity in the Surgical Patient

The obese patient presents many challenges to both anesthesiologist and surgeon. A good understanding of the pathophysiologic effects of obesity and its anesthetic implications in the surgical setting is critical. The anesthesiologist must recognize increased risks and comorbidities inherent to the obese patient and manage accordingly, optimizing multisystem function in the perioperative period that leads to successful outcomes. Addressed from an organ systems approach, the purpose of this review is to provide surgical specialists with an overview of the anesthetic considerations of obesity. Minimally invasive surgery for the obese patient affords improved analgesia, postoperative pulmonary function, and shorter recovery times at the expense of a more challenging intraoperative anesthetic course. The physiologic effects of laparoscopy are discussed in detail. Although laparoscopy's physiologic effects on various organ systems are well recognized, techniques provide means for compensation and reversing such effects, thereby preserving good patient outcomes.