The impact of obesity on surgery in gynecological oncology: a review

Surgery represents a mainstay in the treatment of gynecological cancers. It is a common belief that operating on obese patients causes more peri- and postoperative complications than operating on nonobese patients. The surgical outcome in gynecological oncology can be evaluated by comparing intra- and postoperative complications, extent of lymphadenectomy, negativity of the specimens' margins, and percentage of optimal debulking between obese and nonobese patients affected by malignancies at the same stage. In this review, we analyze how obesity affects the feasibility of a correct oncologic procedure in case of cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer. We also describe the techniques that have been suggested in the literature to improve the surgical outcome on obese patients.