Cardiac surgery in the morbidly obese

Background Obesity rates globally continue to rise and in turn the body mass index (BMI) of patients undergoing cardiac surgery is set to mirror this. Patients who are Class III obese (BMI >= 40) pose significant challenges to the surgical teams responsible for their care and are also at high risk of complications from surgery and even death. To improve outcomes in this population, interventions carried out in the preoperative, operative, and postoperative periods have shown promise. Despite this, there are no defined best practice national guidelines for perioperative management of obese patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Aim This review is aimed at clinicians and researchers in the field of cardiac surgery and aims to form a basis for the future development of clinical guidelines for the management of obese cardiac surgery patients. Methods The PubMed database was utilized to identify relevant literature and strategies employed at various stages of the surgical journey were analyzed. Conclusions Data presented identified the benefits of preoperative respiratory muscle training, off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting where possible, and early extubation. Further randomized controlled trials are required to identify optimal operative and perioperative management strategies before the introduction of such guidance into clinical practice.