Total Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: Making It Safe and Successful for Obese Patients

OBJECTIVE: To investigate outcomes and ascertain the safety and efficacy on patients having total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH), stratified by body mass index (BMI), focusing on high-BMI patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study that reviewed 2,266 patients with benign gynecologic diagnoses, early cervical, endometrial, and ovarian carcinoma from September 1996 to October 2017. BMI was from 14.5 to 74.2 and were classified as normal or underweight (<24.9); overweight (25.0–29.9); class I obese (>30.0–34.9); class II obese (35–39.9); or class III obese (>40.0). All patients underwent TLH. RESULTS: Patients' characteristics were similar across all BMI classes except for age, postoperative pathological diagnoses, and whether a cystoscopy was performed. Surgical duration, and estimated blood loss were similar across BMI classes. Overweight and obese class III patients had lower odds of staying >1 day compared to patients of normal BMI (OR = 0.65, P = .015). Obese class II patients had fewer complications compared to normal BMI patients (OR = 0.27, P = .013), but patients from other high BMI categories did not show any difference compared to patients with normal BMI. The rate of unplanned laparotomy was statistically, but not clinically, higher in obese class III patients (1.8% versus .7%, P = 0.011), most often due to large fibroids. The mean reoperation rate was 2.7%, with the lowest rate (.5%) among obese class II patients, and the highest rate (3.9%) among the normal BMI patients. CONCLUSION: TLH is feasible and safe for obese women, regardless of BMI. Obesity is not a contraindication to good outcomes from laparoscopic surgery.