Is There a Role for Body Fat Determination in Total Joint Arthroplasty?: Commentary on an article by Cameron K. Ledford, Md, et al.

It is well established that obesity can have a serious impact on health, including coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes, and mortality. The relationship between obesity and outcome following total joint arthroplasty is less clear. Although severe or morbid obesity can result in increased complications and poor functional outcomes1, mild to moderate obesity has a relatively small effect that may not be clinically relevant in view of the marked benefits that most patients derive from total joint arthroplasty2. This underscores the importance of determining the degree of obesity present and using the most effective methods to make this determination3. The current standard is the body mass index (BMI), which is based on the relationship between height and weight and which allows patients to be …