The impact of obesity on prostate cancer following surgery

The authors aimed to determine the impact of obesity on patient outcomes following open and minimally invasive prostate surgery. 

The authors concluded that obesity has a large impact on complication rates in patients who received minimally invasive surgery compared to patients who received open prostate surgery. 

Prostate surgery is a surgery that removes the prostate gland. There are different types of surgery, minimal and invasive or open surgery. Minimally invasive prostatectomy (MIP) involves a few small incisions to remove the whole prostate gland. Open surgery involves a more invasive approach with a larger incision site. 

Obesity is a large-scale problem that affects a large majority of individuals. Obesity is measured based on body mass index (BMI). BMI is measured by dividing a persons weight by their height. A BMI over 30 kg/m2 is classified as obese. 

Further research is needed to determine the link between obesity and prostate cancer outcomes following surgery.

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of obesity on post-surgery outcomes in patients with prostate cancer.

Information on 22,367 men was examined in this analysis.17,693 men received MIP. 4,674 men received open surgery. 34.3% of patients were obese.

Overall, 5.3% of MIP patients and 19% of open surgery patients experienced at least one complication post-surgery. In all patients, regardless of surgery type, a higher BMI was associated with an increased risk of complications following surgery, which affected the incision wound, kidneys and blood clotting abilities. 

Patients who received MIP were more likely to experience complications with increasing BMI. Open surgery was a predictor for wound, blood clotting, infection and heart problems following surgery. The highest BMIs were a significant predictor for post-surgery complications and hospital readmission. 

The authors concluded that obesity has a large impact in patients who received MIP compared to patients who received open prostate surgery. However, overall morbidity remained lower for patients who received MIP across all  BMI weight groups.