06 Jun Am I a Candidate for Bariatric Surgery?
Am I a Candidate for Bariatric Surgery?
Weight loss surgery or bariatric surgery is making surgical changes to stomach and digestive system to restrict the amount of food that one can eat and also the absorption of the nutrients. This surgery helps those who are unable to lose weight despite making required life style changes. As any other surgery, weight loss surgery also comes with its own set of risk factors or side effects. But it can turn out to be boon for those who make permanent positive life style changes.
Bariatric surgery is done after thoroughly evaluating the patient. Some of the important guidelines include sufficient efforts in both diet and exercise made by the patient to lose weight and was unsuccessful. A person with BMI (body mass index) higher than 40 can be consider for weight loss surgery. A person with BMI 35 or more and with serious health problems like type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, high blood pressure, obesity associated infertility, obesity associated knee an back problem should consider bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery can be a life saving surgery for those suffering from morbid obesity and have developed serious health problem due to obesity. Bariatric surgery helps to improve the quality of life of people suffering from obesity.
Are you a right candidate for bariatric surgery?
An extensive assessment is done by the dietician, psychologist and the surgeon to evaluate if bariatric surgery is the right for you. The assessment also helps the team to determine which procedure will give you the maximum benefits. Some of the parameters are evaluated to determine if the patient is the right candidate for bariatric surgery
1. Past attempts of weight loss: Past failed attempts of weight loss are evaluated. This also helps the team to understand the stress and motivation level of the patient.
2. Medical Condition: History of other surgery, medical problems and the present treatments are also assessed. This helps the team to evaluate the risks of surgery which can worsen as a result of blood clots, heart problems, liver disease, kidney stones etc. A thorough check up is done through various blood test and scans to check if it is safe to do surgery.
3. Psychological status: Eating disorder, substance abuse, depression or any other underlying mental health condition is also taken into consideration when deciding on the procedure.
4. Age: Teenagers with BMI more than 35, obese older people with age of 75 yrs and patient with serious obesity related health problems can undergo bariatric surgery.
Apart from the above, few weeks before the surgery, the patient will be required to make changes like restrictions in junk food eating, alcohol consumption and smoking. Some patient may also need counseling to cope with changes in diet and exercise regime.
For any queries, you can write to Dr Amit Garg ( Bariatric & Metabolic Surgeon, Chandigarh, India) at codsils.info@gmail.com or call us at +91 7986991767, +91 6283337650
