[Morbid obesity: what is still justified in surgical therapy?]

The main surgical procedures in the treatment of obesity are described. Plastic surgery, e. g. apronectomy or breast reduction, may be discussed in patients after successful weight reduction, but not as a primary operative treatment of massive obesity. Different intestinal bypass procedures inducing malabsorption have been abandoned because of severe metabolic sequels. More physiologic conditions can be achieved with gastric partitioning creating a small upper gastric pouch in continuity with the remainder of the stomach. If strict rules of patient selection and operative technique are observed, satisfactory weight loss without significant late complications may be achieved.