Most recent update: Tuesday, December 10, 2019 - 11:08

Bariatric News - Cookies & privacy policy

You are here

Home > Opinion & blogs

Opinion & blogs

Bariatric News welcomes contributions from our readers. If you have a topic you'd like to talk about, or something you'd like to get off your chest, please get in touch.

My journey into the International Bariatric Club

11:20 11/07/13 | Anonymous (not verified) |

Dr Duc Vuong from New Mexico discusses how he was first introduced to the International Bariatric Club and the benefits of being part of the third largest professional organization for bariatrics in the world...

I could not believe what I was seeing on my smart phone.  I had to show it to my new partner: “Hey, Dr. Joe! Come look at this.”

On my phone, my Facebook app was opened to the International Bariatric Club group, an organization of which I had only recently learned.  A Latin American surgeon had posted a short video of what I later discovered was an endoscopic gastric bypass procedure shown on a fluoroscopic monitor.  Dr. Joe and I watched the video in amazement. “Wow!” my partner exclaimed, “What was that?”  Neither one of us was sure, the procedure was so novel. 

My journey into this organization of elite weight loss surgeons started in 2010.  I was a young surgeon in solo private practice, struggling to learn bariatrics in Texas.  I had read numerous papers and texts, attended many society meetings, and participated in several industry-sponsored courses, including animal and cadaver labs, but I never felt comfortable enough to make the leap into gastric bypass procedures. 

One night, while updating my Facebook status, I received the slightly mysterious message: “You’ve been invited to join the International Bariatric Club by Tomasz Rogula.”  At first I thought this was an internet data scam, but I then made what has turned out to be one of my best professional decisions.  I clicked “Accept.”

This opened the exclusive International Bariatric Club to me.  I immediately saw several intriguing posts and comments, ranging from options for failed gastric bypasses to treatments of sleeve leaks to individual case studies.  The discussion was robust, abuzz with user activity.  The names were international—some German, some Arabic, some Latin. 

As I started scrolling through the posts and comments, I saw names I recognized, like Jaime Ponce who posted a link from the ASMBS.  Or Michel Gagner who responded to a question about duodenal switch.  There’s Phil Schauer commenting.  Could that be THE Dr. Fobi discussing banded bypass?  Ariel Ortiz talking about gastric plication data? 

I was astonished this resource was available to me, for free, in real time.  Soon I found myself joining in discussions, posting questions myself, and becoming a part of an elite surgical community.

Then, Dr. Rogula posted a link to the monthly journal club that was to broadcast live via a webinar.  The topic was a recently published article from Professor Paul O’Brien’s group in Australia comparing the long-term outcomes of gastric banding with the published literature on bariatric surgery.  I cleared my schedule for that evening, and I was not disappointed.  I thought it would be difficult to link to the meeting, but to my surprise, the website was easy to manage. 

(More)

Journal Watch 04/07/13

07:29 04/07/13 | Owen Haskins | Editor in chief, Bariatric News

This week we report on papers from the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism, Journal for Nutrition Education and Behavior, Surgical Endoscopy and the British Journal of Surgery.

Effects of Bariatric Surgery on Human Small Artery Function Evidence for Reduction in Perivascular Adipocyte Inflammation, and the Restoration of Normal Anticontractile Activity Despite Persistent Obesity.

This paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology investigated the effects of bariatric surgery on small artery function and the mechanisms underlying this. The investigators state that perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) exerts an anticontractile effect on adjacent small arteries, but this is lost in obesity-associated conditions such as the metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes where there is evidence of adipocyte inflammation and increased oxidative stress. As a result, they harvested segments of small subcutaneous artery and perivascular fat from severely obese individuals before and six months after bariatric surgery. They report that anticontractile activity of PVAT was lost in obese patients before surgery when compared with healthy volunteers and was restored six months after bariatric surgery. They conclude that bariatric surgery and its attendant improvements in weight, blood pressure, inflammation, and metabolism collectively reverse the obesity-induced alteration to PVAT anticontractile function. (Abstract)

Nutrient infusion bypassing duodenum-jejunum improves insulsensitivity in glucose-tolerant and diabetic obese subjects.

Reporting in the American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism, researchers simulated a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass with a canonical or longer biliary limb by infusing a liquid formula diet into different intestinal sections. Nutrients (Nutrison Energy) were infused into mid- or proximal jejunum and duodenum during three successive days in ten diabetic and ten normal glucose-tolerant subjects, and plasma glucose, insulin, C-peptide, glucagon, incretins, and non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) were measured before and up to 360 minutes following. They conclude that bypass of duodenum and proximal jejunum by nutrients enhances insulin sensitivity, inhibits lipolysis, and increases insulin clearance. (Abstract)

(More)

IFSO June 2013 newsletter now online

03:13 02/07/13 | Owen Haskins | Editor in chief, Bariatric News

The International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders has published its June 2013 newsletter, which is now available to download from the IFSO website.

Highlights in the latest issue include a message from IFSO’s president, Pradeep Chowbey, who reports that one of the major issues currently facing bariatric surgery is the lack of insurance coverage and he encourages all members to “try and expedite this transition where patients can freely access healthcare facilities for a long and healthy life.”

In an update from the European Chapter of IFSO, Chapter president, Professor Yuri Yashkov, discusses cooperation between IFSO-European Chapter and EASO (European Association for the Study of Obesity) and reveals that the organisations have agreed to hold joint Medico-Surgical meetings every year. The next meeting will be held in 2014 in Bruxelles.

Yashkov also announced that under an initiative of Martin Fried (IFSO-EC) and Volkan Yumuk (EASO), a group from both Societies (M Fried, V Yumuk, JM Oppert, N Scopinaro, A Torres, R Weiner, Y Yashkov and G Fruehbeck) was formed to update the European Guidelines which would reflect the latest scientific evidence. The text of updated Guidelines will be published soon.

The newsletter also includes a report from the SOFFCO (French bariatric and metabolic surgical society) congress and in inaugural EASO/IFSO-EC Medico-Surgical Workshop held in Munich in December 2011. The next joint Workshop will be in Bruxelles during the 6th IFSO-European Chapter meeting.

Professor Luc Lemmens, President of the 6th IFSO-EC, writes a welcomes message inviting delegates to attend the 6th Congress of IFSO EC 2014 in Brussels, 1-3 May 2014.

Professor Wej-Jei Lee, President of APC, presents the highlights from the 2013 IFSO-Asia Pacific Chapter Meeting (2013 IFSO-APC), hosted by the Taiwanese Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (TSMBS) and Asia Pacific Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (APMBSS), in, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 10-13 April, 2013.

Dr Robin Blackstone, President of the North American Chapter, discuss the latest developments in the region and highlights the recent ASMBS Spring Educational Event/IFSO North American Chapter Meeting.

Dr Natan Zundel, President of the Latin American Chapter, reports from the 5th IFSO Latin American of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, hosted by the Association Peruana de Cirurgia Bariatrica, held in Cusco, Peru, from 21-24 May, 2013.

Professor Mustafa Taskin, President of the XVIII IFSO Congress invites bariatric specialists from around the world to attend the 18th World Congress of IFSO which will be held in Istanbul 28-31st August 2013.

(More)

Obesity Surgery July 2013 issue: the highlights

10:46 01/07/13 | Owen Haskins | Editor in chief, Bariatric News

The July issue of Obesity Surgery (Volume 23, Issue 7,), the official journal of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders, is now available online. Here are some of the highlights from this issue:

Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy for Morbid Obesity: 5 Years Experience from an Asian Center of Excellence.

Researchers from E-Da Hospital, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, report on their five-year experience  from 228 patients who have undergone a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy as a single-stage bariatric procedure. The mean preoperative BMI was 37.42 ± 4.75 and they report the three- and five-year results, as well as the technical progress, learning curve and complications. (Abstract)

Revisional Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Following Failed Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding.

The study authors from Sunderland, UK, outline their experience of 55 patients who had failed laparoscopic adjustable gastric bands converted to laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, compared with patients who had a primary gastric band. They report excess weight loss at six months, one year and two years following surgery between the primary and revisional patients, as well as morbidity, mortality and length of stay between the two groups. (Abstract) 

Short- and Mid-term Changes in Bone Mineral Density After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy.

This study from General University Hospital Elche, Alicante, Spain, is a retrospective observational study of all morbidly obese patients undergoing laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy examining pre- and post-operative bone metabolism. The investigators report the body size measurements, analytical variables and densitometric values in the lumbar spine (BMD, t score and z score) before surgery and one and two years after surgery, and assess whether the outcomes are due to related to nutritional deficiencies. (Abstract)

(More)

Pages