Bariatric surgery FAQ: Part 1

Key Takeaways:

• Weight-loss surgery is safe and effective.
• It is not “taking the easy way out.”
• Most patients would do well with any of the commonly performed weight-loss surgeries.

More than 300,000 weight-loss surgeries are performed every year in the United States.  

If you group all weight-loss surgeries together, it’s the third most common general surgery operation done in the country every year with hernia repair and gallbladder removal coming in first and second, respectively.  

Despite the number of surgeries performed and the success of those procedures, there are still a lot of questions, concerns, and misconceptions that prevent many people who could benefit from weight-loss surgeries from pursuing them. 

In this two-part blog series, I’m going to answer some of the questions I’m most frequently asked as a bariatric surgeon. 

Is bariatric surgery safe? 

Oftentimes, when I meet patients, one of their main concerns is whether the operation is risky. Is this something safe to proceed forward with?  

Yes, it is because weight-loss surgery is a commonly performed operation, patients do very well, and the safety of weight-loss surgery in the country is very good. 

Yet, there is a significant number of people that will not pursue or consider weight-loss surgery, and it’s often from misperceptions about safety and perceptions of how to lose weight. 

The operations are often done through four-or-five small incisions. Most people are in the hospital for 24 hours or less and can go back to work within one-or-two weeks.  

Is it effective? 

Weight-loss surgery is extremely effective for improving health and wellbeing. When I work with patients who are undergoing weight-loss surgery, they are oftentimes the most involved when it comes to improving health and wellbeing.  

It is a significant step forward in someone improving their life and overall health and wellbeing.  

Is bariatric surgery the easy way out? 

I would never categorize weight-loss surgery as an easy way out. When I work with patients, they’ve often spent a lifetime of dieting and exercising and trying weight-loss medications in the past. Oftentimes, weight-loss surgery is one of the greatest efforts patients make when it comes to improving health and wellbeing. 

Many times, the patients who have had significant health improvements after weight-loss surgery have told me they ended up working harder to lose weight, after weight-loss surgery than what they did prior. Oftentimes, the results from weight loss surgery are so profound that it encourages people to make even more improvements when it comes to diet, exercise, and behavior.  

Maximizing health improvement after weight-loss surgery requires a significant commitment to improving diet, exercise, and behavior.  

So, I would say weight-loss surgery is one of the most significant commitments to improving one’s health and wellbeing. 

How do I know which procedure is best for me? 

Many people who are pursuing weight-loss surgery would do well with either of the most commonly performed weight-loss surgeries, including Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery and sleeve gastrectomy.  

At the WVU Medicine Medical and Surgical Weight-Loss Center, we offer all available recognized weight-loss surgeries, including duodenal switch, single anastomosis duodeno-Ileal bypass with sleeve gastrectomy (SADI-S procedure), and one anastomosis gastric bypass, (OAGB or mini gastric bypass), along with endoscopic procedures, including endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG).  

When I ask patients why they chose one procedure over another, some of the most commonly given answers is that they’ve had a friend or relative have an operation, and they tend to gravitate toward the same operation or procedure.  

There are certain circumstances or conditions where one operation may be much better than the other. If we meet people in those circumstances, we let them know one operation’s very much preferred over the other, but for most patients, they would do well with any of the commonly performed weight-loss surgeries. 

Will I gain the weight back? 

After bariatric surgery, most patients are able to achieve a lifetime of weight loss and have significant improvement in their health.  

To really lose weight, significantly improve your health, and keep the weight off in the long term requires a lifelong commitment in changing diet, exercise, and behavior. 

There’s significant weight loss after bariatric surgery and many patients will lose 100 pounds or more within the first 12 months. There’s significant improvement in metabolism, glucose control, and insulin regulation after weight-loss surgery, but the body’s still prone to weight gain through other mechanisms.  

As we age, metabolism tends to slow down whether someone’s had weight-loss surgery or not. There are often significant changes throughout life that can sometimes come with weight loss. One of the most common is menopause, which can slow down metabolism and can increase weight gain.  

Weight-loss surgery doesn’t prevent those things. 

But wait! There’s more! 

Be sure to check out the second part of this series. In that blog, we’ll talk about hair loss, pouch stretching and reset, vitamin and mineral absorption, and post-surgical dietary restrictions.