Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42301438›Full record

ArticleSurgical endoscopy2026

The relationship between BMI and pediatric postoperative outcomes: a 12-year NSQIP-P analysis.

Josélio Rodrigues de Oliveira Filho, Ikemsinachi C Nzenwa, Michael A Kochis, Cornelia L Griggs

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Article in Surgical endoscopy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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4 authors.

Josélio Rodrigues de Oliveira Filho *Department of Pediatric Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Ikemsinachi C Nzenwa *Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Michael A KochisDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Cornelia L GriggsDepartment of Pediatric Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA. cgriggs@mgb.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7772-1637

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChildhood obesity is increasingly prevalent and historically considered a risk factor for surgical complications. Evaluating the influence of body mass index (BMI) on pediatric surgical outcomes is critical for guiding care. This study aimed to examine the relationship between BMI and postoperative outcomes in children.

methodsCohort study of patients aged 2-18 years undergoing general surgical, urological, or gynecological procedures at National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric hospitals (2012-2023). The exposure was BMI categories defined by American Academy of Pediatrics and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The primary outcome was the Desirability of Outcome Ranking (DOOR), a composite measure of 22 postoperative events ranked from 1 (no complication) to 6 (worst complications). Ordinal logistic regression models, adjusted for clinical risk, assessed the association between BMI and DOOR.

resultsAmong 373,315 patients (mean age 10.8 ± 4.7 years; 54.2% male), 7.1% were underweight, 55.1% normal weight, 15.1% overweight, 12.3% class I obesity, 6.0% class II obesity, and 4.3% class III obesity. Unadjusted analyses showed fewer complication-free courses (DOOR score 1) in underweight children, while class II-III obesity had the highest proportion of complication-free courses. In adjusted analyses, underweight was associated with worse DOOR scores (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.04-1.12) while Class II (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.85-0.94) and class III obesity (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.71-0.81) were protective. Subgroup analyses showed that in elective general surgery, class II (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.73-0.86) and class III obesity (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.59-0.72) remained protective, whereas in non-elective general surgery, underweight status was still predictive of worse DOOR scores (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.16-1.34).

conclusionExtremely low BMI was consistently linked to less desirable postoperative outcomes, whereas obesity was paradoxically associated with more favorable DOOR scores. Elevated BMI alone should not be considered a contraindication to pediatric surgery. Efforts to optimize underweight children may offer the greatest opportunity to improve surgical outcomes.

Indexed as

Body Mass IndexPediatric ObesityPostoperative ComplicationsAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleRisk FactorsThinnessBMIObesityOutcomesPediatric surgery

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.