The effect of obesity on the outcomes of laparoscopic adrenal surgery in patients with Cushing syndrome.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of obesity on the results of laparoscopic adrenal surgery in patients with Cushing syndrome.

Methods: This retrospective study was performed in Department of General Surgery at Erciyes University School of Medicine between January 2010 and January 2023. Our analysis included Cushing syndrome patients who underwent unilateral laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) with the transabdominal lateral approach. All patients were evaluated in terms of age, sex, tumor diameter, body mass index (BMI), American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification, morbidities, surgery history, tumor side, operative time, conversion to open surgery, complications, and length of hospital stay.

Results: A total of 90 patients (75 females and 15 males) underwent a transperitoneal LA. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to their BMI: obese group (≥30 kg/m²; n = 53, 58.8%) and nonobese group (<30 kg/m²; n = 37, 41.2%). All patients were classified into 3 subgroups: obese patient group, BMI ≥30-39 kg/m² (n = 23); morbidly obese patient group, BMI ≥40 kg/m² (n = 14); and nonobese patient group, BMI <30 kg/m² (n = 53). There was no significant difference in intraoperative complications, conversion to open surgery, operative time, or length of hospital stay between the groups. Only conversion to open surgery was a risk factor for postoperative complications in univariate and multivariate analyses (odds ratio, 15.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.277-185.599; P = 0.031).

Conclusion: Our results showed that LA is safe and effective in patients with Cushing syndrome with morbid obesity, allowing acceptable morbidity and length of hospital stay.