Gastrointestinal Surgery

New Guidelines Released For Bariatric, Weight Loss Surgery

Jessica Ganga
10/27/2022

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders have issued a new set of guidelines pertaining to patient eligibility for weight-loss surgery in addition to several recommendations.1 The updates come after 30 years, updating the NIH’s 1991 guidelines for bariatric surgery.2 

The key updates include:

  • A recommendation for metabolic and bariatric surgery for individuals with a BMI of 35 kg/m2 and above, no matter the presence, absence, or severity of comorbidities.
  • Individuals with metabolic disease and a BMI of 30 – 34.9 kg/m2 should be considered for metabolic and bariatric surgery.
  • For individuals in the Asian population, BMI thresholds should be adjusted such that a BMI of 25 kg/m2 and above suggests clinical obesity. Further, individuals with BMI of 27.5 kg/m2 and above should be offered surgery.
  • Metabolic and bariatric surgery results are consistently safe and effective long term.
  • Children and adolescents should be considered for metabolic and bariatric surgery, appropriately.

“Since the NIH published its statement on gastrointestinal surgery for severe obesity in 1991, the understanding of obesity and metabolic and bariatric surgery has significantly grown based on a large body of clinical experience and research,” the researchers concluded. “Long-term data consistently demonstrate the safety, efficacy, and durability of metabolic and bariatric surgery in the treatment of clinically severe obesity and its co-morbidities, with a resultant decreased mortality compared with nonoperative treatment methods.”

Reference:

  1. Eisenberg D, Shikora SA, Aarts E, et al. 2022 American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO): indications for metabolic and bariatric surgery. SOARD. Published online October 20, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.soard.2022.08013
  2. Grundy SM, Barondess JA, Bellegie NJ, et al. Gastrointestinal surgery for severe obesity. NIH Consens Dev Consens Statement. 1991;9(1):615S-619S. https://consensus.nih.gov/1991/1991gisurgeryobesity084PDF.pdf