34 LISTENER MARCH 14 2020
by Nicky Pellegrino
HEALTH
ThisLife
T
he rise and rise of obesity is presenting
problems for surgeons. If a patient is
very overweight, everything is more
difficult, from moving and position-
ing them properly to measuring blood
pressure, finding veins, accurately
inserting an epidural, even keeping
airways open during anaesthesia and bringing
them around afterwards. There is also a bigger risk
of clots and infections.
Hospitals have been investing in bigger operating
tables, wider beds, larger MRI scanners and stronger
hoists to cope with the estimated one in four of us
who is now obese.
“It’s a growing problem all over New Zealand
and we keep buying bigger and bigger equipment
and trying to adapt,” says Whanganui anaesthetist
Marco Meijer.
After having an obese patient die from respira-
tory and heart problems two days after a relatively
straightforward orthopaedic procedure, Meijer
decided he had to try to do something. “I looked
at the research around hip and knee surgery and
found that once a patient’s BMI [body mass index]
goes over 40, the risks start going up.
The data also showed that hospital
wound infections were all in this
[morbidly] obese group of patients.”
In the UK, people are refused
non-urgent surgery until they lose
weight, and for many that means
ongoing pain and isolation as theyWeigh to go
A programme to help
people slim down before
elective surgery is
having lasting benefits.
PSYCHOLOGY • FOOD • WINE • TECHNOLOGY • SPORT
“Nurse navigator” Christine
Taylor and anaesthetist
Marco Meijer.struggle without support. Meijer
realised a weight-loss programme was
needed to help patients in Whanga-
nui get their size down to a level
where surgery would be safer. So, he
set about making it happen.
So far, 85 people have signed up
to the Fit for Surgery, Fit for Life
programme. All needed to get
their BMI beneath 40 to qualify
for hip and knee surgery and were
referred by their GP or hospital
staff to Sport Whanganui, where
“nurse navigator” Christine Taylor
spent time finding out about their
lives before drawing up an
individual care plan.
“I’m not there to
give them the hard
word and tell themSuch programmes,
which are shown
to reduce hospitalstays, are known as
“prehabilitation”.