Bariatric surgery relatively safe, claims study

Washington, June 25 (ANI): After a large-scale analysis, a Duke University Medical Center researcher has said that advances in weight-loss surgery, also called bariatric surgery, have made it as safe as any routine surgical procedure.

Dr. Eric J. DeMaria, vice chair of the department of surgery at Duke, reviewed data from nearly 60,000 patients and found it resulted in low complication and mortality rates.

Compiled from the largest repository of bariatric surgery patients ever recorded, the analysis indicates complication rates hover around 10 percent - with the most common complaint being nausea/vomiting.

Total mortality rate was under one percent with 78 deaths reported among 57,918 patients.

"The complication and mortality rates are even lower than have been reported in the past," said DeMaria.

The researchers collected the data from participants in the ASMBS Bariatric Surgery Centers of Excellence program. All follow identical guidelines.

"We believe the Bariatric Surgery Centers of Excellence program is one reason why there is an even further reduction in mortality being observed," said DeMaria.

In this first analysis of bariatric surgery patients, the report found that almost all patients are between the ages of 19-65.

Less than one percent patients were under 19 while 5.67 percent are older than 65.

While three-quarters of people in the study were women, most of them were Caucasian.

African Americans comprised 10 percent of the patient population; Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans make up the rest.

Over half of the procedures performed are gastric bypass, followed by gastric banding.

The data collection effort is significant because "it will help us understand how to better care for bariatric surgery patients now and in the future," said DeMaria.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery in Grapevine, TX. (ANI)