Risks (was Re: Surgery - 9 Aug 05)

July 31, 2005

Hi, Pam -

The most commonly cited figure I've seen is 1 in 200, or .5% - but

I've seen figures ranging from 1 in 300 (cited by a medical practice

that was promoting the surgeries) down to 1 in 50 (from a recent

analysis that re-examined prior studies). So there's a lot of

variability. Ditto in the time-frame they look at to consider the

mortality figures. . . 30 days is the most common period if they're

considering simply direct complications of surgery, and it's certainly

the highest-risk period. However, I've seen some articles in medical

journals that look at a full year and at complications that come from

things like nutritional problems from the rapid weight loss and the

changes the bypass causes, that sort of thing, rather than just the

actual surgical procedure.

The biggest thing they all seem to agree on is that the experience of

the surgeon is critical - the more experience the surgeon has with the

procedure, the better the outcomes are. To which my response was,

" DUH! "

1 in 200 is nothing to sneeze at - I gave those odds a lot of thought

when I was pregnant and my OB wanted me to have amnio done, which had

a .5% chance of inducing a miscarriage. I eventually had one when I

realized that at my age the chances of miscarriage were slighly less

than the chances of discovering a life-threatening birth defect. For

the same reason, I've become more willing to commit to WLS as I've

come to realize that my weight has become a bigger risk to my health

than the surgery.

Cathy

> Hi Cathy, #1, I thought that the mortality rate was 1

> in 100, and #2, I thought that if you were to have

> life-threatening complications from surgery, it would

> have been in the first few weeks, (you know, gastric

> leaks, blood clots, etc), not within the first YEAR!

> Pam

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