Does Obesity and Procedure Type Increase the Risk of In-Hospital Mortality in Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: A Report From the United States Hospitals

Objectives To assess the differences in demographics and laparoscopic hysterectomy type by comorbid obesity and to assess the risk of in-hospital mortality due to obesity and other comorbidities. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS, 2012-2014), and included 119,890 adult females undergoing total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH), laparoscopic-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH), and laparoscopic supracervical hysterectomy (LSH). We used a logistic regression model adjusted for confounders to assess the odds ratio (OR) of obesity on mortality in study inpatients. Results The majority of the inpatients were middle-age 36-50 years (83.1%) and White (67.7%). Comorbidities were seen in a higher proportion of obesity cohort with most prevalent being hypertension (53.6%) and diabetes (23.9%), followed by depression and hypothyroidism (15.8% and 15.4%, respectively). Inpatients with comorbid obesity had 4.6 times (95% CI 2.79-7.69) higher odds for in-hospital mortality compared to non-obesity cohort. There was statistically no significant association between type of laparoscopic hysterectomy and in-hospital mortality. Conclusion Analysis of national-level data shows that obese patients have a higher risk of in-hospital mortality by 364% compared to non-obese patients. There was no significant association between the laparoscopy procedure type and in-hospital mortality. More studies should focus on improving hospital outcomes and quality of life post-surgery in obese patients.