Jeffery Jacob, M.D., along with his former Mayo Clinic colleagues in the Department of Neurosurgery and Anesthesia.  The article was published in Neurology, Sept. 8, 2015, which presented findings from a study on obese patients undergoing elective spinal fusion.

The objective of the study was on the impact of obesity on resource utilization and early complications in patients undergoing surgery for degenerative spine disease.

The conclusions drawn from this single-institution retrospective analysis is that increased BMI is associated with longer operative times, increased complication rates and increased cost independent of co-morbidities. The results further indicated the need for preoperative weight loss.