Weight Loss Surgery Brings about Health Disorders

Federal government officials announced today that 40% of individuals that have gone through weight loss surgical interventions develop health complications within 6 months from the operation. This means that 4 in 10 Americans that have undergone surgical procedures in order to get rid of excess kilos develop post-operational health disorders.

Recently, the number of such surgical interventions has highly risen, as it is directly proportional with the obesity rate. About 30% of US population suffers from obesity disorders. Besides helping overweight people to regain a normal weight, these procedures also decrease the incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other serious conditions connected with obesity.

The most frequent post-operational complications include abdominal hernias, all kinds of infections, pneumonia and respiratory disorders, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea etc. If the procedure is not performed appropriately, there is also the risk of having the patient's gastric juices leaking between the stomach and the intestines.

William Encinosa, lead author and sponsor of the research, senior economist at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, stated: "We found that the complication rate in the hospital was 22 percent, but it went up to 40 percent over the next six months." The result of the study came from the investigation of more than 2500 insurance claims for weight loss surgeries that were performed in 2001 and 2002.

However, taking into account the fact that the research was based on information lasting since 5 years ago, some medical experts claim that the information is old and such surgical procedures have highly improved nowadays.

Dr. Philip R. Schauer, president of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and director of the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation argued that the study "was done over five years ago. Lots of hospitals and surgeons had just begun getting into bariatric surgery at that time, and there were no standards, so one can expect a significant complication rate."

One way or the other, people that want to go through bariatric surgery in order to escape obesity and to have an average weight again should take into consideration further complications and be aware of the possible consequences.