• Alex H Kartheuser, Daniel F Leonard, Freddy Penninckx, Hugh M Paterson, Dimitri Brandt, Christophe Remue, Céline Bugli, Eric Dozois, Neil Mortensen, Frédéric Ris, Emmanuel Tiret, and Waist Circumference Study Group.
• *Colorectal Surgery Unit and Colorectal Tumor Board, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium †Department of Abdominal Surgery, Gasthuisberg University Hospital, Leuven, Belgium ‡Department of Coloproctology, Western General Hospital, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom §Department of Digestive Surgery, Hôpital St-Joseph, Gilly, Belgium ¶Plateforme technologique de Support en Méthodologie et Calcul Statistique, Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium ‖Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA **Department of Colorectal Surgery, Oxford University Hospitals, Oxford, United Kingdom ††Service of Visceral Surgery, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland ‡‡Department of General and Digestive Surgery, Hôpital St-Antoine, Paris, France.
• Ann. Surg.. 2013 Nov 1;258(5):722-30.

ObjectivesTo determine whether body fat distribution, measured by waist circumference (WC) and waist/hip ratio (WHR), is a better predictor of mortality and morbidity after colorectal surgery than body mass index (BMI) or body surface area (BSA).BackgroundObesity measured by BMI is not a consistent risk factor for postoperative mortality and morbidity after abdominal surgery. Studies in metabolic and cardiovascular diseases have shown WC and WHR to be better outcome predictors than BMI.MethodsA prospective multicenter international study was conducted among patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery. The WHR, BMI, and BSA were derived from body weight, height, and waist and hip circumferences measured preoperatively. Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors for postoperative outcomes.ResultsA total of 1349 patients (754 men) from 38 centers in 11 countries were included. Increasing WHR significantly increased the risk of conversion [odds ratio (OR) = 15.7, relative risk (RR) = 4.1], intraoperative complications (OR = 11.0, RR = 3.2), postoperative surgical complications (OR = 7.7, RR = 2.0), medical complications (OR = 13.2, RR = 2.5), anastomotic leak (OR = 13.7, RR = 3.3), reoperations (OR = 13.3, RR = 2.9), and death (OR = 653.1, RR = 21.8). Both BMI (OR = 39.5, RR = 1.1) and BSA (OR = 4.9, RR = 3.1) were associated with an increased risk of abdominal wound complication. In multivariate analysis, the WHR predicted intraoperative complications, conversion, medical complications, and reinterventions, whereas BMI was a risk factor only for abdominal wall complications; BSA did not reach significance for any outcome.ConclusionsThe WHR is predictive of adverse events after elective colorectal surgery. It should be used in routine clinical practice and in future risk-estimating systems.

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