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Losing weight, even though surgery, has shown to bring many benefits. Weight loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, is indicated for overweight patients who face multiple health issues. Bariatric surgery has many benefits, including a lowered risk of developing heart disease and various types of cancer.
One study also showed that losing weight lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes.
A set of studies have focused their attention on how bariatric surgery can influence the outcomes of joint replacement surgeries. Dr. Emily Dodwell, an orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York, NY led one of these researches.
Dr. Alexander McLawhorn, a chief orthopedic surgery resident at HSS and study co-author explained that bariatric surgery is “a price-effective intervention” when treating morbid obesity but that there isn’t sufficient data regarding the possibility of performing weight-loss surgery before joint replacement and whether it actually is a good strategy.
The team wanted to find out if by performing bariatric surgery first, the expensed and risks of related complications in joint replacement interventions in morbidly obese patients would decrease.
The study consisted of recruiting a number of obese people who were in need of either a hip or knee replacement. All participants had a body mass index (BMI) of at least 35 and a connected health issue.
The patients were divided into two groups. One group had hip or knee replacement surgery without first having gone through bariatric surgery and the other group had weight-loss surgery prior to the hip or knee intervention which took place 2 years later.
The aim of the study was to see whether a third of the participants who had bariatric surgery lost the excessive weight before the joint replacement surgery. Dr. Dodwell explained:
“For the study, we chose a decision evaluation design mainly because we could use a mathematical model to simulate the outcomes and charges of every single remedy path primarily based on outcomes and costs that have already been published in the literature.”
Results showed that bariatric surgery performed before joint replacement interventions “is likely an expense-helpful alternative from a public payer standpoint” and can improve the outcomes of such joint replacement surgeries performed on obese patients in great need of such therapies.
Image Source: Weight Loss Surgery Channel
