Multidisciplinary Support Urged For Bariatric Surgery Patients

The US Endocrine Society has urged multidisciplinary support for those who undergo bariatric surgery. Primary care physicians, endocrinologists and gastroenterologists could all be roped in for the purpose, according to the new clinical practice guideline issued by the society.

The guideline, featuring a series of evidence-based clinical recommendations, is published in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society.

Between 1999 and 2004, obesity rates in the United States increased by 24 percent. Bariatric surgery has gained wide acceptance as a treatment for severe obesity, especially when complicated by type 2 diabetes. Common operations include laparoscopic banding procedures and gastric surgeries, which restrict the volume of food entering the stomach and intestines. Patients undergoing bariatric surgery may still experience weight regain and may also present with associated co-morbidities, including type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovarian disease, metabolic bone disease, fatty liver, hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea.

“Bariatric surgery is not a guarantee of success, and patients require postoperative care,” said David Heber, MD, PhD, of the University of California, and chair of the task force that developed the guideline. “To help prevent weight regain, ensure that co-morbid conditions are adequately managed and ease the transition to life after bariatric surgery, the guideline recommends that patients receive multidisciplinary support. Other recommendations from the guideline include:

Active nutritional patient education and clinical management to prevent and detect nutritional deficiencies for all patients undergoing bariatric surgery;

Bariatric Surgery - Gastric Bypass Procedure
Bariatric surgery gastric bypass (Roux-en Y) is a surgical procedure done to make the stomach smaller to treat severe obesity.

Management of potential nutritional deficiencies for patients undergoing malabsorptive procedures as well as strategies to compensate for food intolerance in patients who have had a malabsorptive procedure to reduce the risk for clinically important nutritional deficiencies;

Patient enrollment in a comprehensive program for nutrition and lifestyle management; and

Future research aimed at addressing the effectiveness of intensive postoperative nutritional and endocrine care in reducing morbidity and mortality from obesity-associated chronic diseases.

The Hormone Foundation, the patient education affiliate of The Endocrine Society, has published a companion patient guide. It outlines steps patients and their health care team should take to avoid nutritional deficiencies and resulting complications, such as protein malnutrition or bone loss, particularly after malabsorptive operations. The guide explains that, in most patients, obesity-related health problems disappear or greatly improve after surgery. It also encourages patients to have realistic expectations about what the surgery can do for them and the lifestyle changes they must make to lose weight and keep it off.

Source-Medindia