Patients must slim down for surgery

EAST Herts GPs are believed to be the first in the country to ask overweight patients to slim before they can be listed for routine surgery.

Those with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 40.0 requiring any routine surgery under general, epidural or spinal anaesthetic will need to reduce their bulk by 10 per cent over a period of nine months before their operation.

Patients with a BMI of between 30.0 and 40.0 with health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol will also have to reduce their weight by the same margin.

Dr Tony Kostick, chairman of the East and North Herts Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “There are a number of things that contribute to the success of a procedure carried out under anaesthetic. An important one of these is to be a healthy weight and another is to be a non-smoker.

“There’s always a risk when patients are given an anaesthetic, but there is strong clinical evidence that proves that this risk is significantly higher when they are overweight and if they smoke.

“These patients are much more likely to suffer serious breathing problems, get infections and have heart, kidney and lung complications. It also takes them longer to recover and they have a higher risk of dying under anaesthetic.

“So for these health reasons in this area, patients will not be booked for routine surgery until they have lost weight.

“A relatively small weight loss can reduce the risks of surgery quite dramatically and we will be looking for that first, but the more you lose the better it will be – not just for when you have surgery but for long-term good health. You will reduce the risk of getting some really serious conditions like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and liver problems.

“And being overweight also has a significant effect on life expectancy. Severely obese people can expect to die an average of 11 years earlier than those with a healthy weight.”

However, Dr Kostick added: “These measures are for people who need routine [planned] surgery only. They do not apply when people need urgent or emergency surgery such as to treat cancer.

“There will also be times when it will be appropriate to offer surgery to a patient without following these measures.

“As well as asking patients to lose weight before routine surgery, GPs will also ask smokers to attend an appointment with a specialist stop smoking adviser who will explain the support that is available to help them quit.”