Impact of body mass index on utilization of selected hospital resources for four common surgical procedures.

Background: Evidence about the impact of obesity on surgical resource consumption in the Australian setting is equivocal. Our objectives were to quantify the prevalence of obesity in four frequently performed surgical procedures and explore the association between body mass index (BMI) and hospital resource utilization including procedural duration, length of stay (LOS) and costs.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing four surgical procedures at a tertiary referral centre in New South Wales, between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2016, was conducted.