Surgery for Morbid Obesity
Is Weight Loss Surgery for You?
Weight loss surgery is typically restricted
to patients suffering from morbid obesity - meaning individuals with a
body mass index above 40 - about 100 pounds of overweight for men and
80 pounds for women.
Severe Obesity with Co-Morbid Conditions
Patients with a body mass index between 35
and 40 (who are not classified as suffering from morbid obesity) may also
be candidates for surgery if they suffer from high risk co-morbid conditions
such as life threatening cardiopulmonary problems (e.g. severe sleep apnea,
Pickwickian syndrome, obesity related cardiomyopathy, or severe diabetes
mellitus). Increased abdominal fat or "central obesity" is an
important risk factor associated with the major complications of obesity.
Other possible indications for patients with body mass index between 35
and 40 include obesity-induced physical problems that are interfering
with lifestyle (eg. musculoskeletal or neurologic or body size problems
precluding or severely interfering with employment, family function and
ambulation).
Morbid Obesity - Pre-Surgery Hospitalisation
Some candidates for surgical treatment of
morbid obesity may have such impaired health that they must be hospitalized
pre-operatively and undergo treatment to improve their operative risk.
Weight Loss Surgery - Evaluation of Potential
Candidates
Despite the failure of medical therapy by
drugs, diet, behaviour modification and exercise to achieve documented
long term weight loss in the morbidly obese, it is accepted practice to
require that the potential candidate for surgical treatment have made
good faith attempts to achieve weight loss by dietary means. Although
the segment of the morbidly obese population able to lose significant
weight by non-surgical means is miniscule, candidates for surgery must
be given the opportunity to try, a proposition which justifies insistence
on at least one attempt at dietary weight loss prior to acceptance into
a bariatric surgery program.
Weight Loss Surgery for the Morbid Obesity
Patient:
Need for Consultation
Decisions on what therapy to recommend to
patients with clinically severe obesity should depend on their wishes
for outcomes, on the need for therapy, and on the physicians explanation
of options for therapy and the current information on probable safety,
efficacy, advantages and risks. The need for close nutritional monitoring
during rapid weight loss and the need for lifelong medical surveillance
after surgical therapy should be made clear to the prospective patient
and their relatives.
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Weight
Loss Surgery Information
How
Weight Loss Surgery Works - Morbid
Obesity - Morbid
Obesity Surgery
Treatment of Obesity
- Bariatric
Surgery Health Risks - Abdominoplasty
Gastric Banding - Gastric
Bypass - Mini
Gastric Bypass - Gastroplasty
Laparoscopic
Gastric Bypass - Roux
En Y Gastric Bypass - Lap
Band Surgery
Lap Band - Lap
Band FAQs - Biliopancreatic
Diversion - Duodenal
Switch
Liposuction - Liposuction
Surgery - Superwet
Liposuction - Tumescent
Ultrasonic Liposuction
- Tummy Tuck - Mini
Tummy Tuck - Stomach
Stapling
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