Death: about 1 in every 200 patients dies as the result of bariatric surgery.

[RobinL123 7]

I found this in the resources section of this website, under surgery complications. WHAT IS THIS? Is this true? Please tell me this is not factual.

[RobinL123 7]

Wow....several people have read this, yet not one comment. I'm not writing this to scare anyone, I'm hoping someone can disprove this.

Its not a very good statistic.

[JWheel1989 21]

It's not every 1 in 200 person dies from surgery, it's the calculated risk. You would have it in any surgery. Plus it's not the same for each person... Mines is 1 in 500 because I am under 50, I don't have diabetes or high blood pressure, I don't have any existing conditions etc. I checked my surgeons death statistics and his was about 8 deaths out of 750 surgeries, and he is a general surgeon who specialises in cancer surgery and bariatric, along with other things so the deaths could be unrelated to the procedure I am having. Feel any better?

[RobinL123 7]

Hi JWheel,

Thanks for the response. I'm definitely going to discuss this with my doctor. Because of my age and medical history I'm at a higher calculated risk. That's why I know it's so important for me to quit cigs forever, to improve many things in my life but also for this surgery. Do you have a surgery date scheduled yet or are you still in the long drawn out process prior to surgery? I see that you're from Scotland, is there socialized medicine there? Are you already approved and just waiting for a time slot? How long do they estimate that to be?

Robin

[JWheel1989 21]

Robin,

No problem . I was worried about dying and complications but my surgeon really helped me through all those nerves, now I'm really just excited. Plus, I know I can't stay at this weight and not expect some serious medical consequences in the future so I balanced out which is most risky, surgery or non surgery, and for me surgery was the best choice. I'm booked in for the 17th of February and have a 7-10 day pre surgery diet. It's pretty hard to get bariatric surgery on the NHS without having diabetes, and my age also works against me because I'm still quite young at 25, so I'm going private! I hope you feel more at ease about everything, and good luck!

Jen

[JWheel1989 21]

Oh I used to smoke as well but I quit two years ago, so I know how tricky it is to quit. Smoking creates some risk so I would say the earlier you do it the better! The surgery might give you the best motivation to do it...

[NewMary83 52]

It's not every 1 in 200 person dies from surgery, it's the calculated risk. You would have it in any surgery. Plus it's not the same for each person... Mines is 1 in 500 because I am under 50, I don't have diabetes or high blood pressure, I don't have any existing conditions etc. I checked my surgeons death statistics and his was about 8 deaths out of 750 surgeries, and he is a general surgeon who specialises in cancer surgery and bariatric, along with other things so the deaths could be unrelated to the procedure I am having. Feel any better?

this may seem like a silly question but how do you check a surgeons death stats? I have done my research on my surgeon and feel confident in him but I would still like to know lol.

[catdaddy 232]

Ah come on guys, all surgeries have risk.

[catdaddy 232]

this may seem like a silly question but how do you check a surgeons death stats? I have done my research on my surgeon and feel confident in him but I would still like to know lol.

Ask him/her. My doctor told me and it was the first sentence out of his mouth.

[NewMary83 52]

Ask him/her. My doctor told me and it was the first sentence out of his mouth.

thanks I will!

[RobinL123 7]

I know all surgeries have risk. I wonder how this type of surgery stacks up against other elective surgeries, I will research my stats and I will flat out ask my surgeon what her statistics are. I will also see if I can research it myself.

[RobinL123 7]

I know all surgeries have risk. I wonder how this type of surgery stacks up against other elective surgeries, I will research my stats and I will flat out ask my surgeon what her statistics are. I will also see if I can research it myself.

[catdaddy 232]

This isn't an answer to your question but I have to tell you a story about this subject. I did the research and knew the risk. I even went and checked out my doctor's name on the Internet and found information about him. So anyway, my wife and I are at my first appointment and she only knows that I'm having weight loss surgery but nothing else about it. So the doctor comes in and introduces himself and then says, " I've killed 5 people". I immediately looked over at my wife thinking she was going to freak out. Surprisingly she held a straight face. He went on the explain how everything transpired and his history with weight loss surgery. By the end of the interview he'd win over our hearts and mainly our trust. But what a way to introduce yourself to new patients.

[JWheel1989 21]

this may seem like a silly question but how do you check a surgeons death stats? I have done my research on my surgeon and feel confident in him but I would still like to know lol.

Not a silly question at all. Like others have said I am sure if you ask the surgeon straight out they will tell you. I found the information on the Internet and it didn't take me too long to find either! I just googled my hospitals morality rate and it gave me a five year history of every surgeon at every hospital in my region... Sadly it doesn't provide context just the amount of surgeries and deaths occurred. I'm not sure about the US but here in the UK quite a lot of data has to be made available to public scrutiny.

[deesleevednowbypassed 15]