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Is Surgery for me?
Do I qualify for
Bariatric Surgery?
Bariatric surgery is recommended for those persons who
are 40 kg (or more) overweight and have, or are likely to have medical
complications that will be helped and in many instances, cured by
substantial weight loss. While weight loss surgery is not for everyone,
there are a large number of patients for whom losing a lot of weight
is imperative, including those suffering from diabetes, high blood
pressure, heart trouble, shortness of breath, arthritis and orthopaedic
(bone) problems with their legs, hips or back.
 Physicians
and healthcare professionals commonly use the ‘Body
Mass Index ’ (BMI) as a way of helping to determine obesity.
BMI is a number calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms
by his or her height in square meters. Although a patient's BMI
cannot be used to determine actual percentage of body fat or overall
health condition, it is a means of categorizing weight in terms
of nationally recognized standards.
A surgical approach will only be considered if all of the
following conditions are met:
- A Body Mass Index (BMI) over 40kg/m2
- A Body Mass over 30kg/m2 in association with documented concomitant
disease that could benefit from weight loss: arterial hypertension,
radiologically proven degenerative arthritis, sleep apnea.
- A patient age between 18 and 60 years
- Obesity which has been stable for over five years
- Unsuccessful dietary or drug measures for over a year
- Absence of endocrine disease
- Sufficient comprehension and compliance from the patient
- No history of excessive alcohol intake; no history of drug
abuse
- Acceptable operative risk
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