Bariatric surgeries becoming more popular, less risky

AORN Journal, August, 2005

The number of Americans undergoing bariatric (ie, weight-loss) surgery more than quadrupled between 1998 and 2002, from 13,386 to 71,733, according to a July 12, 2005, news release from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Part of the increase in surgeries was due to a 900% increase in surgical procedures on patients between the ages of 55 and 64, according to a new study by AHRQ. Hospital costs for treating patients undergoing bariatric surgery during the same period increased by more than six times lie, from $157 million per year to $984 million per year) and the average cost per surgery increased by approximately 13% lie, from $11,705 to $13,215).

To be medically eligible for bariatric surgery, a patient must have a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 40 or a BMI greater than 35 with serious obesity-related complications, such as type 2 diabetes or obstructive steep apnea. In 2005, an estimated 395,000 Americans between the ages of 65 and 69 will be medically eligible for bariatric surgery, and this number could increase by approximately 20% (ie, 475,000) in 2010.

To date, only a fraction of people who are medically eligible for bariatric surgery actually have had the procedure; only 0.6% of an estimated 11.5 million morbidly obese people underwent bariatric surgery in 2002. As safety concerns decrease, future demands for bariatric surgery could rise more sharply. Overall in-hospital death rates among patients undergoing bariatric surgery decreased by 64% (ie, from 0.89% to 0.32%) between 1998 and 2002, although the death rate for men was stilt three times higher than the death rate for women (ie, 0.79% compared to 0.24%).

AHRQ Study Finds Weight-Loss Surgeries Quadruples In Five Years (news release, Rockville, Md: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, July 12, 2005).