Implications of obesity in patients with foot and ankle pathology

Table 1 Summary of foot and ankle surgical implications in obese patients

No.	Key points
1	By 2030, 48.9% of adults will be classified as obese, expanding surgical risk factors to a broad population
2	A chronic pro-inflammatory state faced by these patients, adversely affects bone metabolism
3	Factors associated with abnormal gait include quadriceps weakening, knee osteoarthritis, poor balance and an increased risk of falls
4	In obese subjects who have one or two additional risk factors like smoking and sedentary, their risk of developing diabetes increases by nine times
5	In Achilles tendon repairs, there is a significant increased rate of surgical site infection at the time of surgery if a comorbidity is present compared to those without a comorbidity
6	Patients with diabetes and vascular complications have the highest surgical site infection rate followed by obesity
7	Percutaneous hallux valgus procedures have found no difference in complication or re operation rates between normal weight and obese adults after surgery
8	There is an increased incidence of foot pain including higher rates of tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, and osteoarthritis in obese individuals
9	Compared with normal weight women, obese women have a three-fold increased risk of sustaining an ankle fracture after a fall
10	Obese patients have a greater proportion of chondral lesions when compared with normal weight subjects, 58% vs 30% respectively