INTRODUCTION: Over the past three decades, rates of overweight and @entity28 internationally have risen to epidemic proportions. There are currently no published prospective studies examining the effect of @entity28 on gynaecologic laparoscopy for benign indications within a population with @entity28 rates comparable to Australian @entity1 . AIMS: To assess and quantify whether increasing @entity1 body mass index negatively impacted upon the ability to successfully complete planned laparoscopic surgery. METHODS: From January 2009 until October 2012, 307 @entity1 undergoing laparoscopic gynaecological surgery for benign pathology were recruited. Intra-operative variables included the following: ease of identification of anatomical landmarks, entry technique and number of attempts, conversion to laparotomy and any complications encountered. Any post-operative complications were recorded at the six week post-operative review. RESULTS: 94.46% of operations were completed as planned. As BMI increased, the ease of identification of important anatomical landmarks significantly decreased. There was no correlation between increasing BMI and surgical complication rates. CONCLUSIONS: Planned gynaecological laparoscopy can be performed in @entity28 @entity1 with a high likelihood of completion. In this study, @entity28 was not associated with a significant increase in complication rates or failure to complete the surgery as planned.

The effect of XXXX body mass index on surgical difficulty in gynaecological laparoscopy.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'patients', 'patient'] @entity28 :: ('MESH:D009765', 'Disease') :: ['obese', 'obesity']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['patient']
