Poster 98 Obesity Impacts Resource Utilization but Not Mortality among Patients Admitted with Lower Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage: A Nationwide Analysis
Author Insight from Marwan S. Abougergi, MD, Catalyst Medical Consulting
What’s new here and important for clinicians?
Obesity has been shown to negatively impact prognosis for a wide range of medical conditions and surgical interventions, including breast cancer treatment, bipolar disease treatment, and coronary artery bypass grafting. To our knowledge, no study examined the impact of obesity on lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage outcomes on the national scale. We used the largest publicly available national inpatient database to study this question.
We found that obese and non-obese patients had similar in-hospital mortality rates. In addition, the two groups had similar hemorrhagic shock and ICU admission rates. Looking at resource utilization, obese patients were more likely to receive an in-hospital colonoscopy, (with similar endoscopic treatment rates between the two groups), had a longer length of stay despite similar time from admission to colonoscopy, more CT scans of the abdomen and pelvis, and higher total hospitalization charges compared with non-obese patients.
In conclusion, unlike in many other medical conditions, obesity no effect on in-hospital morbidity or mortality among patients with lower gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Despite that fact, resource utilization was significantly higher for obese patients, leading to higher total hospitalization charges.
What do patients need to know?
Obesity does not increase the risk of death or severe illness during a hospitalization for lower gastrointestinal bleeding. However, obese patients require more interventions, imaging studies, and other treatment modalities, which lead to a longer hospital stay and higher payments for hospital care compared with non-obese patients.
Author Contact Marwan S. Abougergi, MD, Catalyst Medical Consulting
mabougergi@catalystsclinic.com
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