Surgery For Obesity

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 16 Apr 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Bariatric (weight loss) surgery for obesity is considered when other treatments have failed. The effects of the available bariatric procedures compared with medical management and with each other are uncertain. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2003 and previously updated in 2005.

Extract from Implications for Practice

Surgery for obesity results in greater weight loss than conventional treatment, and the results are maintained at least up to ten years. Furthermore, the weight loss is associated with reductions in comorbidities, such as diabetes and hypertension, and medication use. Short term (two years) improvements in health-related quality of life were reported, but longer term (ten years) effects are less clear, with improvements in some aspects of quality of life, but not others. However, surgery is associated with adverse effects and the possibility of postoperative mortality. Due to the limited evidence and poor quality of the trials, caution is required when interpreting the comparative safety and effectiveness of these procedures.

(CD003641) by Colquitt et al

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Source
The Cochrane Library

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