Gynecologic counseling for patients undergoing bariatric surgery: a scoping review

Obesity is associated with several gynecologic conditions. While bariatric surgery is regarded as the most effective treatment option for obesity, gynecologic counseling for patients planning bariatric surgery is limited and often focused on fertility. The goal of this scoping review is to investigate the current recommendations for gynecologic counseling prior to bariatric surgery.

A comprehensive search was conducted to find peer reviewed studies written in English discussing a gynecologic issue of patients who were planning or previously had bariatric surgery. All the included studies identified a gap in preoperative gynecologic counseling. The majority of the articles made specific recommendations for a multidisciplinary approach to preoperative gynecologic counseling with a call to involve gynecologists or primary care providers.

Patients deserve to receive appropriate counseling about how obesity and bariatric surgery impact their overall gynecologic health. We advocate that the scope of gynecologic counseling includes more than pregnancy and contraception counseling. We propose a gynecologic counseling checklist for female patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Offering patients a referral to a gynecologist from the patient's first entry to a bariatric clinic is imperative to facilitate appropriate counseling.