[Andrea45]

Does anyone else find this alarming?! I know my surgeon is supposed to be excellent & her practice is a Surgery Center of Excellence. Im not sure if this figure is for my surgeon specifically, or for gastric bypass surgery in general..but Im quite surprised that one out of every 100 bypass surgerys results in death. It appears to be usually related to heart attack, pneumonia, blood clots or infection...ugh Im thinking this may also be for people who are extremly obese. My bmi is 42.

[Trulykath]

in ten years, my surgeon lost one patient...and it was due to a bowel obstruction....his wife returned 2 years later to have him do her gastric bypass...I think the technology/techniques have DRASTICALLY been improved and I personally think the statistics are wrong....

and let's face it...if it's your time to go, it's not really up to you....

[OMCV]

My dr has only lost one patient in 8 years and she only had to record it because the patient was a month out from surgery. The patient died of something unrelated from the surgery.

[DocSanae]

What is the record of YOUR surgeon? That's what you should go by.
Also, weight loss surgery is MAJOR surgery, no matter what you think. Cutting up some parts of your organs and rearranging them is a MAJOR event in any medical textbook. With ANY major surgery, there is ALWAYS a risk, and the risks aren't that low, like one in a million. You should check out the statistics specific for the last couple of years--there were close to/over 200,000 surgeries done per year the last couple of years as these are bound to be lower. The statistics for surgery related deaths should be available for these years, because of how the statistics are taken--it's deaths within short time range out of surgery, and of complications that are clearly from surgery.
Incidentally, being obese in itself puts a person into the category of high risk where anesthesia and surgery are concerned, so given those factors, I believe the surgeons are doing an exemplary job saving lives.

[judijo]

I think the mortality (death rate) issue is the most important thing that most of us consider when thinking about WLS. It is HUGE...that whole death thing.

At my final pre-op appointment, the counselor had me read and sign all my consents/affidavits like I won't smoke or drink booze and what realistic wt. loss is, and the big one...the mortality rates.

Then she had me take a 15 question test, so I understood everything I signed.
One question was, "the mortality rate for RNY WLS is 1 in 500." I said, false...it is 1 in 200.
"No. the consent said 1 in 500."
"NOOOO...the consent said 1 in 200!"
"Prove it," said the counselor.

So I did.

She gasped, because Dr. Paya had directed them MONTHS earlier to change the consent and apparently someone didn't. I had to sign a new consent with my initials confirming the change of the statistic.

In 10 years, Dr. Paya has not lost one patient. He just wanted the stats clear.

What doc says was my bottom line...I could die in the OR, or I could die of a stroke or heart attack or kidney failure later on. Or I could survive and thrive after WLS. I guess it was my choice to make that gamble.

[Perfesser]

My surgeon showed me his stats. He's done 2800 WLS since he did the first on in the Midwest in the late '70s. He has had one patient die, about 20 years ago, of some really unlikely and exceptional circumstances. Talk it over with your surgeon. If he won't show you his stats, find another. There should be nothing hidden in this.

CT

[qt82699]

with any kind of surgery there is a chance of death...my surgeon has never had any deaths, check with your surgeon about their numbers!!

[clancythecamper]

The way I see it, you could survive surgery and get hit by a bus on the way home or you could live to be 90 in a nursing home unable to move for 30 years ~ I'm with Kath - when it your time, it doesnt matter what you're doing.....

Also, the mortality rate driving in our county is way high - you wouldn't have surgery if the numbers were the same, yet we get into our cars everyday.

[amina6ae]

I have to ditto kath,

your time is your time...
Its not in your hands my dear friend.

But your health is!!!!!!
Continue to rearch..

Lol,

[kbfrmaz]

Yep, my surgeon was very open to the fact that he had lost one patient from a blood clot in their leg after surgery. That was why he used pressure leg cuff thingamabobs (technical term, I know!) after surgery. So check with your surgeon and find out their record AND what they have done to improve their surgery and post surgical patients lives.