Postbariatric surgery deaths, which fall under the jurisdiction of the coroner

• Published in: The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology Vol. 25; no. 3; p. 237
• Main Authors: Omalu, Bennet I, Luckasevic, Todd, Shakir, Abdulrezzak M, Rozin, Leon, Wecht, Cyril H, Kuller, Lewis H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.09.2004
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adult; Cardiovascular Diseases - mortality; Cohort Studies; Comorbidity; Coroners and Medical Examiners; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Forensic Medicine; Gastric Bypass - adverse effects; Gastric Bypass - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Obesity, Morbid - epidemiology; Obesity, Morbid - surgery; Pennsylvania - epidemiology; Peritonitis - mortality; Pneumonia, Bacterial - mortality; Postoperative Complications - mortality; Pulmonary Embolism - mortality; Retrospective Studies; Sex Distribution; Pennsylvania
• ISSN: 0195-7910
• DOI: 10.1097/01.paf.0000136638.26060.78

Obesity has attained epidemic proportions in the United States, with more than 50% of adults classified as overweight or obese. If untreated, morbidly obese patients have a 1 in 7 chance of reaching normal life expectancy. The surgical treatment of obesity has emerged as the most effective treatment modality in long-term weight control and has become increasingly popular, with attendant postoperative complications and death. We performed a cross-sectional, coroner based, 2-year retrospective review of archival case records for decedents who died following bariatric surgery for the treatment of obesity to identify underlying causes of death and forensic characteristics of this cohort. Fifteen (0.5%) out of 3097 archival cases died following bariatric surgery, with approximately 73% of decedents dying within 6 months of surgery. The underlying causes of death in 80% of decedents were natural comorbidities of obesity, with cardiovascular diseases (33%) being the most frequent causes of death, followed by gastrointestinal diseases (20%), acute pulmonary thromboembolism (13%), and acute bacterial pneumonia (13%). The majority of decedents were white females who remained morbidly obese after bariatric surgery. Only 2 decedents died of direct inadvertent/accidental surgical complications.