Objective: The objective of the study was to compare wound complications in obese and non-obese patients undergoing abdominal surgery. Methods: This comparative study was conducted from September, 2018 to August, 2019 on 140 patients in the department of surgery of Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi. All these patients were divided into two groups of 70 patients each. Group A (obese) and B (nonobese) based on body mass index. The patients of age less than 12 years, peritonitis, diabetes

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... s, jaundice, renal failure, coagulation disorder were excluded in both groups. All the patients had open and laparoscopic surgery by the consultant on elective list. The operative and postoperative findings and outcome in term of wound complications like wound infection, dehiscence, seroma, hernia, were noted. Results: All the140patients were divided into group A (obese) and B (non-obese) of 70 patients each. The age ranged from 17 to 58 years and males were com- mon (50.8%) than females (49.2%). In group A, body mass index varied from 31.9kg m-2 to 39.08kg m-2 and in group B from 19.3kg m-2 to 23.2kg m-2. The com- plications in group A were wound infection in 18, dehiscence in 5, seroma in 13, and hernia 4 patients. While in group B, the complications were wound infection in 3, seroma in 5, no dehiscence and incisional hernia in one patient. The results showed that early and late wound complications are more in obese patients. Conclusion: The wound complications are significantly associated with obesity in patients undergoing abdominal surgery and are more in obese than in non-obese patients. Key words: Obese, Wound, Complications, Abdominal Surgery.