Should anesthesiologists managing morbidly obese patients receive special education and training?

Abstract

Morbidly obese patients have a growing population presenting for both bariatric and nonbariatric surgery. Anesthesiologists unfamiliar in dealing with this patient population may either be caught unaware with the challenges of this patient population or alternately, subject these patients to unnecessary procedures like awake fiberoptic intubations when they can be intubated with direct laryngoscopy. There are no current fellowships in United States in bariatric anesthesia nor are there mandatory rotations for residents by ACGME in dealing with morbidly obese patients. We present challenges in dealing with morbidly obese patients and propose a structured curriculum to train residents and/or trained anesthesiologists in dealing with morbidly obese patients.