Hugging and Chalking

This blog is about obesity and the inanity/insanity it spawns, the encroaching lawsuits and growing diet industry. Obesity is a matter of genes and personal responsibility. You can have an endocrine problem, or you can have a balance problem (too many calories and too little exercise). It’s not where you eat, but how much you eat; it’s not McDonald’s fault, or Mama’s fault, or Washington’s fault if your body is too fat or too thin. Rosabelle.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Surgery problems in obese children

A study on surgery problems in obese children noted airway obstruction and other breathing-related functions during surgery. It included some statistics about children and obesity.

An estimated 15 to 17 percent of children and adolescents in the United States are considered obese.

Major airway obstructions occurred in 19 percent of obese children, compared with 11 percent of normal-weight children.

Nearly 9 percent of obese children experienced difficult mask ventilation, compared with 2 percent of normal-weight children.

17 percent of obese children in the study experienced major oxygen desaturation (decreased oxygen in the blood), compared with 9 percent of normal-weight children.

28 percent of obese children had asthma, compared with 16 percent of normal-weight children.

It should be noted however, that despite the increased risk of adverse events among children who are obese, none resulted in significant illness.


Reference: Anesthesiology, March 2008, Vol. 108, Issue 3.

Labels: , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home