[20 years' experience of treating patients with extreme forms of obesity]

During 20 years 356 patients with morbid obesity of the III-IV degrees were operated on, 339 of them being subjected to jejunoileal shunting in the authors' modification. The developed measures for the selection of patients, preoperative preparation, anesthesia and operation technique allowed the amount of postoperative complications to be reduced from 15 to 5%. Long-term results were followed-up in 220 patients during 3-17 years. Stable loss of the body mass, regression of the diseases resulting from obesity were noted in 187 of these patients (85%). Electrolytic disorders were found in 16.8% of the patients. The reconstruction of the small intestine because of progressing hepatic insufficiency was performed in 16 patients. Less than 20% loss of the body mass was noted in 18 patients.