Overview of Obesity Surgery

Obesity surgery is offering new hope to many Americans who suffer from medical complications of severe obesity. Obesity surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, includes procedures that either reduce the size of the stomach or reroute the intestine to limit the absorption of calories. Gastric bypass is the most prevalent bariatric surgery.

It reduces food consumption by reducing the size of the stomach and limits calorie absorption by redirecting part of the small intestine.

In the year 2000, the National Center For Health Statistics considered 61% of American adults to be overweight or obese. Obesity has a profound impact on our society. About 300,000 people die prematurely every year from obesity related health problems (including diabetes, joint disease, heart disease, sleep apnea and certain cancers). The cost of obesity in the United States in the year 2000 was estimated to be $61 billion in preventative, diagnostic, and treatment services related to obesity, and $56 billion in lost wages from illness or disability related to obesity. The total cost was estimated at $117 billion. In 2001 the Surgeon General issued a call to action to prevent and decrease obesity.

In recent years, the medical community has developed several surgical operations to give severely obese people a safe, effective, and often permanent way to lose weight and improve their health. This web site is designed to give you background information on the benefits, risks and complications associated with bariatric surgery and answer the general questions you might have. We also hope that you are encouraged to contact us for more information.

Surgical Associates surgeons have selected the Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure as their operation of choice. This procedure can be performed through a large surgical incision or using a laparascopic approach which uses several tiny incisions. Surgical Associates surgeons have performed over 200 Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedures with outstanding results.

Patient screening is important and rigorous. Potential patients must complete a history of a weight loss program, nutritional, fitness and psychological screenings before undergoing bariatric surgery. The surgery has almost an eight percent complication rate, and is still considered risky. The national death rate for bariatric surgery is about 0.5 percent, or one out of every 200 patients.