Posted on 07/23/2006 9:45:17 PM PDT by neverdem
WASHINGTON, July 23 Four of every 10 patients who undergo weight-loss surgery develop complications within six months, the federal government said Sunday.
The number of such surgical procedures has been rising rapidly, along with the incidence of obesity, which now afflicts 30 percent of adults in the United States, health officials said.
Obesity surgery is helping thousands of Americans lose weight and reduce the risk of diabetes and other life-threatening diseases, said Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a unit of the Public Health Service. But she added, This study shows how important it is for patients to consider the potential complications.
Many of the complications were so serious that patients were readmitted to hospitals or visited emergency rooms within six months.
In the procedure, known as bariatric surgery, doctors reduce the number of calories that a person can consume and absorb. One of the more common techniques restricts the size of the stomach and the length of the intestine, where nutrients are absorbed.
Federal researchers found that complications from obesity surgery significantly increased costs.
Over all, said William E. Encinosa, an economist at the health research agency, medical spending averaged $29,921 for obesity surgery and six months of follow-up care. For patients who experienced complications, spending averaged $36,542. And for those with complications that required readmission to a hospital, the average was $65,031.
Past studies found that 10 percent to 20 percent of patients had complications while they were in the hospital. In the new study, Mr. Encinosa said, federal researchers found that 39.6 percent of patients had complications within 180 days of surgery.
The most common complications included vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal hernias, infections, pneumonia and respiratory failure, as well as the leaking of gastric juices caused...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Oily discharge? Leaking gastric juices? YEESH!
at 30,000 we could just hire a personal trainer and send them to a fat farm for a lot less.
These guys working out of their car trunks?
i read that after 3 years one starts to gain weight. I know some people who have had the surgery and aren't that skinny.
Vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal hernias, infections, pneumonia and respiratory failure! And those were on the good days!
I knew a woman who did that also. She suffered through stuff I won't repeat here - lost 150# and was drop dead gorgeous. Saw her about six years later and it was like nothing had ever changed. She had put a hundred or so back on. Sad. Don't understand how that can happen.
Two people I know had the surgery. One had it reversed and the other gained most of the weight back after 4 years.
I meant the woman had the surgery - not just a diet.
Have to concur, I've seen it basically save the life of someone I know. For the morbidly obese it is a life changing improvement. There's a risk of complications, but there's a hell of a lot more risk staying extremely fat for the rest of your life. Diabetics in particular can really improve their health this way.
-ccm
One of my sisters is a textbook case. She's remained beautifully thin for several years. I think, a lot of it depends upon who you have for a doctor. There's a wonderful doctor in Fresno.
"Oh, and I say this as a fat chick who has lost more than 100 pounds without surgery."
Can you please tell me how you did this? Thanks.
Maven, I've lost thousands...over and over and over and over and over again!
;-)
(Congrats to you!!!!)
have me = have accused me
I don't know who dropped the ball here, the gov't or the Terrorist Tip Sheet which usually does good health stories. There's no breakdown into the various surgical procedures and techniques. I found nothing at the gov't site.
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