An age and sex matched study on the effect of obesity on the functional outcomes and complication rates in patients with adult spinal deformity undergoing primary multi-level thoracolumbar spinal fusion.

In patients with ASD undergoing multi-level thoracolumbar fusion, obesity results in a higher blood loss, poorer sagittal correction, poorer post-operative functional scores and higher complication rates than patients with a normal BMI. However, obesity does not affect operative times, length of hospital stay or reoperation rates. Furthermore, patients with obesity have similar post-operative satisfaction scores to patients with normal BMIs.