Quantifying the effect of shoulder size on operation duration: an analysis of stapes surgery outcomes

Objective: To investigate the effect of body mass index on hearing outcomes, operative time and complication rates following stapes surgery.Method: This is a five-year retrospective review of 402 charts from a single tertiary otology referral centre from 2015 to 2020.Results: When the patient's shoulder was adjacent to the surgeon's dominant hand, the average operative time of 40 minutes increased to 70 minutes because of a significant positive association between higher body mass index and longer operative times (normal body mass index group (<25 kg/m(2)) r = 0.273, p = 0.032; overweight body mass index group (25-30 kg/m(2)) r = 0.265, p = 0.019). Operative times were not significantly longer upon comparison of low and high body mass index groups without stratification by laterality (54.9 +/- 19.6 minutes vs 57.8 +/- 19.2 minutes, p = 0.127).Conclusion: There is a clinically significant relationship between body mass index and operating times. This may be due to access limitations imposed by shoulder size.