Obesity an issue on WA operating table

Obesity is contributing to an increasing proportion of deaths on the operating table, a West Australian report has found.

However fewer people overall are dying in hospital during operations, according to the West Australian surgical mortality audit.

The audit reviewed 2935 deaths over five years from January 2010 to December 2014, showing a 15 per cent drop in reported deaths.

Audit chairman James Aitken said the number of deaths per 100,000 reported to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons had decreased, but there had been an increase in the number of deaths where obesity was noted as an important comorbidity.

"In 2002, the incidence of obesity as a comorbidity for surgical mortality was approximately 2.5 per cent," he said.

"By 2014, it was almost 10 per cent. This strongly suggests that lifestyle issues contribute to riskier surgery, and this observation needs to be seen against the increasing public health issue of obesity."