Bariatric surgery is a great innovation in medical sciences that revolutionized the treatment of morbid obesity (used to be difficult to treat condition some decades ago). Excess body weight creates a lot of trouble and reduces the life expectancy. According to an estimate, morbidly obese people have a chance of dying 8-10 years before their expected life. Increased mortality in obesity is due to cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and cancer.
Benefits of Bariatric Surgery
Losing weight improves the quality of life and cures many diseases that arise as complications of obesity. Bariatric surgery, in this regard, is extremely helpful in losing weight effectively in patients who are morbidly obese (BMI more than 40). Some of the benefits of Bariatric surgery include,
- 80-90% of patients undergoing Bariatric surgery lose excessive weight and reach normal at 18 months.
- Type 2 diabetes mellitus is cured in more than half of the patients who undergo weight loss surgery and in the remaining patients, it comes under good control with lesser doses of drugs.
- High blood pressure or hypertension is cured in many people, and most patients get good control of blood pressure with a reduction in doses of anti-hypertensive drugs.
- Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea, loud snoring during sleep, and respiratory problems are improved in many patients who undergo Bariatric surgery and lose excess weight.
- The risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke reduces significantly due to the lowering fats in the blood. Reduction in cardiovascular disease and stroke also improves life expectancy.
- Significant weight loss after Bariatric surgery reduces the chances of cancers like colon cancer, breast cancer, uterine cancer, and others.
- Pain from osteoarthritis is improved in more than half of the patients undergoing weight loss surgery and losing excessive weight.
- Bariatric surgery causes excessive weight loss and improves body image, allows depression and anxiety and improves mental performance.
Overall mortality is reduced by up to 53% in patients who are morbidly obese and undergo Bariatric surgery. Where there is no doubt about the effectiveness of Bariatric surgery, people are also concerned about the safety of weight loss surgery procedures. There are some risks involved in getting Bariatric surgery, but these are negligible when compared to the potential benefits. Overall mortality from Bariatric surgery procedures is just 0.2% which means that one out of five hundred patients undergoing Bariatric surgery is at risk of death.
Risks and Complications of Bariatric Surgery
Common complications during Bariatric surgery procedures include infections, deep venous thrombosis, incisional hernia, dumping, strictures, and others. All these complications occur at a very low rate if Bariatric surgery is performed by an experienced surgeon in a facility with a clean sterilized operation theatre and all the facilities for safe surgery. Overall benefits outweigh the risks involved in Bariatric surgery, and people with a BMI of more than 40 or those with a BMI of 35 with some serious medical illness are good candidates for such kind of surgery. In such morbidly obese people, Bariatric surgery is extremely helpful for losing and coming to normal weight. Risks related to the procedures can be minimized if a good facility for weight loss surgery is selected.
Final Thoughts
Remember, a good facility for Bariatric surgery is a dedicated Bariatric surgery hospital with experienced surgeons, state-of-the-art operation rooms, an intensive care unit, experienced nutritionists, helping staff, and effective follow-up support. Bariatric surgery centers that claim to be a few dollars cheaper may lack these facilities for patient safety and may augment the misery of the patient in terms of complications and sometimes even lead to death.
