Obesity and Spine Surgery

In the United States, approximately 80% of patients who undergo spine surgery are either overweight or obese. Spine services across Europe will soon be faced with the same demographic challenges. Obese patients carry specific risks and technical challenges for spinal surgeons and require special consideration throughout the perioperative period. Despite the challenging myriad of comorbidities accompanying obese patients, with careful preoperative planning, excellent functional outcomes can be achieved following spinal surgery in this patient group. The growth of minimally invasive surgical techniques, computer navigation, and the advent of robotics should see more obese patients receiving appropriate spinal intervention where they were previously deemed unsuitable candidates. It is important for spine services to adapt their perioperative management strategies to accommodate the rising prevalence of obesity.