Bariatric Surgery:
Bariatric surgery is a weight loss surgery that is done for people who have a high body mass index (See: Body Mass Index), and are morbidly obese. Since obesity is linked to many diseases like musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases, bariatric surgery is advised for people who cannot lose weight with conventional methods. Bariatric surgery is done in several procedures like adjustable gastric band, bilopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, gastric bypass, and sleeve gastrectomy. While each procedure has its own advantages and disadvantages, choosing the right procedure depends upon the patient’s BMI, age, with/without diabetes, and weight loss goals. People who have undergone bariatric surgery show significant improvement in terms of losing excess weight in one to two years after the procedure. Each surgical procedure differs; however, some procedures are done with abdominal incisions while others are laparoscopic surgeries. Postsurgical risks include internal bleeding, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism. However, the success rate of bariatric surgery is good and people who have undergone this procedure have had much better control over diabetes, and significant reduction of cardiovascular risks.
