Pulmonary complications following abdominal lipectomy.

Previous reports underestimate the morbidity of a lipectomy, having focused on mortality statistics. Alterations of respiratory kinetics leading to complications do not always correlate with the usual signs and symptoms of respiratory failure. Patients at increased risk, namely, those with obesity, a smoking history, or lung disease, deserve special attention, including appropriate pulmonary function studies in the preoperative and postoperative phase. The following studies are indicated in the preoperative assessment of the high-risk patient: (1) vital capacity, (2) arterial blood gases, and (3) chest radiograph.