Patient selection for obesity surgery

Patients selected for gastroplasty should be at least 45 kg above ideal weight, between the ages of 18 and 50, and operated on in a center with good results, where team assessment and long-term follow-up is emphasized. Referral by a family doctor who provides local care and support is important. Medical complications need not be present because the idea is to prevent them, but problems such as sleep apnea, adult onset diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoarthritis, and infertility, which may be corrected by weight loss, increase the indication for gastroplasty. Patients should have social support and be intelligent enough to understand the postoperative diet and the need for regular follow-up. Those with a history of psychiatric admission require careful preoperative assessment by psychiatrist or psychologist and close follow-up and support. Patients should have made a good supervised attempt at dieting, have had stable weight for 3 to 5 years preoperatively, and have stopped smoking at least 6 weeks prior to operation. Tests to assess personality factors, eating habits, and motivation are developing, but more precise methods of selecting patients for gastroplasty and predicting successful and uncomplicated weight loss are still needed.