Anesthetic Management of Morbidly Obese Patients Undergoing Airway Surgery

Obesity has become one of the most important public health problems in the United States and many other countries around the world (Afshin et al., N Engl J Med 377(1):13–27, 2017). In the United States, prevalence of childhood obesity has increased up to threefold over the last three decades (Hedley et al., JAMA 291(23):2847–2850, 2004; Ogden et al., JAMA 311(8):806–814, 2014). It now affects one in six children and adolescents with the highest prevalence in Black and Mexican-American youth (Skelton et al., Acad Pediatr 9(5):322–329, 2009). According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2011–2014 report, the prevalence of obesity was 17.5% of among 6–11-year-olds and 20.5% of 12–19-year-olds (Ogden et al., Ctr Dis Control Prev, 2015). More than 30% of pediatric patients presenting for surgery in one large pediatric setting were found to be overweight or obese (Nafiu et al., J Natl Med Assoc 99(1):46–48, 50–41, 2007).