Weight Loss Surgery Woes
From a health newsletter:
Weight-Loss Surgery Woes
Weight-loss surgery may seem like a good way to help morbidly obese people who are unable to lose weight through conventional means to stay out of the hospital in the long run. But that assumption may not be true, it turns out. A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that California adults who underwent the Roux en Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery, the most common type of weight-loss surgery, had twice the rate of hospitalization in the year following surgery than they had in the year before surgery. What's more, RYGB patients who were followed for three years spent roughly $20,000 on post-surgical hospitalizations in addition to the surgery's $33,000 tab. That's sobering news -- for both patients and insurers.
RECENT STATISTICS
Last year, US doctors performed more than 100,000 weight-loss procedures. More than 80% of these were gastric bypass surgeries, which promote weight loss by restricting food intake and reducing the amounts of calories and nutrients the body absorbs. After RYGB surgery, patients can lose roughly 60% to 70% of their excess weight and enjoy improvements in chronic conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obstructive sleep apnea.
On the downside, patients may experience nutritional deficiencies and digestive problems, and, as the California study found, about 20% of patients go back into the hospital for surgery-related complications, such as ventral hernia repair or gastric revision. For more on gastric bypass considerations.
To qualify for gastric bypass surgery, a person must have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more (about 100 pounds overweight for men and 80 pounds overweight for women) or a BMI between 35 and 39.9 and a serious obesity-related health problem, such as diabetes, heart disease or sleep apnea. Deciding whether the surgery's risks outweigh the potential health benefits gets a little more complicated when recognizing the potential for additional health problems and hospitalizations, not to mention the extra costs.
Weight-Loss Surgery Woes
Weight-loss surgery may seem like a good way to help morbidly obese people who are unable to lose weight through conventional means to stay out of the hospital in the long run. But that assumption may not be true, it turns out. A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that California adults who underwent the Roux en Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery, the most common type of weight-loss surgery, had twice the rate of hospitalization in the year following surgery than they had in the year before surgery. What's more, RYGB patients who were followed for three years spent roughly $20,000 on post-surgical hospitalizations in addition to the surgery's $33,000 tab. That's sobering news -- for both patients and insurers.
RECENT STATISTICS
Last year, US doctors performed more than 100,000 weight-loss procedures. More than 80% of these were gastric bypass surgeries, which promote weight loss by restricting food intake and reducing the amounts of calories and nutrients the body absorbs. After RYGB surgery, patients can lose roughly 60% to 70% of their excess weight and enjoy improvements in chronic conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obstructive sleep apnea.
On the downside, patients may experience nutritional deficiencies and digestive problems, and, as the California study found, about 20% of patients go back into the hospital for surgery-related complications, such as ventral hernia repair or gastric revision. For more on gastric bypass considerations.
To qualify for gastric bypass surgery, a person must have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or more (about 100 pounds overweight for men and 80 pounds overweight for women) or a BMI between 35 and 39.9 and a serious obesity-related health problem, such as diabetes, heart disease or sleep apnea. Deciding whether the surgery's risks outweigh the potential health benefits gets a little more complicated when recognizing the potential for additional health problems and hospitalizations, not to mention the extra costs.
posted by Jack Savage at 7:42 PM
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