Preoperative weight loss before bariatric surgery

Abstract

Hypothesis: Preoperative weight loss reduces the frequency of surgical complications in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Design: Review of records of patients undergoing open or laparoscopic gastric bypass. Setting:Acomprehensive, multidisciplinary obesity treatment center at a tertiary referral center that serves central Pennsylvania. Patients: A total of 881 patients undergoing open or laparoscopic gastric bypass from May 31, 2002, through February 24, 2006. Intervention: All preoperative patients completed a 6-month multidisciplinary program that encouraged a 10% preoperative weight loss. Main Outcome Measures: Loss of excess body weight (EBW) and total and major complication rates. Results: Of the 881 patients, 592 (67.2%) lost5%or more EBW and 423 (48.0%) lost more than 10% EBW. Patients referred for open gastric bypass (n=466) were generally older (P