The objective of this stusd was to bserve the prevalence of atelectasis in patients undergoing bariatric surgery and the influence of the body mass index (BMI), gender and age on the prevalence of atelectasis. Retrospective study of 407 patients and reports on chest X-rays carried out before and after bariatric surgery over a period of 14 months. Only patients who underwent bariatric surgery by laparotomy were included. There was an overall prevalence of 37.84% of atelectasis, with the highest prevalence in the lung bases and with greater prevalence in women (RR=1.48). There was a ratio of 30% for the influence of age for individuals under the age of 36, and of 45% for those older than 36 (RR=0.68). There was no significant influence of BMI on the prevalence of atelectasis.
The prevalence of atelectasis in bariatric surgery is 37% and the main risk factors are being female and aged over 36 years.